Rain
by autumnsnow55
Summary: Ino's left team ten, and for the first time in many years, she's let her true self show. i'm really bad at summaries. Inoshika, slight Nejiten. Complete.
1. Chapter 1

**Rain**

Chapter one

**Disclaimer:** I don't own shikamaru and ino or any of the naruto characters

**AN:** this was a fic I wrote a looooong time ago so forgive me if I skrewed anything up (sweat drop) Now on with the story!

Today the warm rays of the sun mockingly tickled my sleeping face awake. The sun has always ridiculed me. As if saying: "I'm out, your rain won't come." I glared at my window while I got up to change out of my night clothes. I picked my blue brush up to comb out my long yellow hair then putting it in the high ponytail that I always have on. The chuunin exam was going to be in a week and we needed to train.

I sighed for the first time today. How I long for the rainy season to come. The rainy season in Konoha was always the best and most beautiful to me. For weeks it wouldn't stop raining, but there has never been floods thanks to our village's advanced draining system. I would walk around aimlessly for hours getting soaked to the bone, but never getting sick.

"Ino dear! Breakfast is ready!" mother called from the kitchen. I quickly put my sandals on and sped for the dining room. After eating, I had more than enough time to walk around Konoha twice before training started. We always trained later then most teams so Shikamaru would have enough shadows to control. Pointless really, since we trained in the woods where trees would make more then enough shade than was needed.

"I'm going to train now mom, see you later!" I yelled holding the lunch that my mother made for me.

"Have a good time sweetie!" mother said smiling kindly to my retreating figure.

"Now, where should I go…?" I asked no one, seeing as no one was around me. "Ah! The meadows! They're not to far from the training area, but a good distance away!" I said again to no one, and walked merrily to the meadows.

I got there in what seemed like no time at all. Looking at all the colorful wild flowers that were scattered around the meadow, I sighed. The beauty of the free wild flowers put the captive flowers in my family's flower shop to shame. I found a spot that had both high grass and flora and decided to lay with them to look at the white puffy clouds. White clouds, like the sun, mock me. Floating pass me planning to rain elsewhere. I sighed again. What Shikamaru found so interesting in them was beyond me…

"Taking up my pass time I see," speak of the devil.

"What are you doing here?" I asked getting up slightly.

"I can ask the same," he said sitting next to me.

"I'm 'taking up your pass time,' silly," I laughed hitting him playfully on the arm. He glared at me then laid down. Always with that annoyed look on his face.

"Well?" I asked. He looked at me like I was crazy so I punched him again, "What you doing here?!"

"I came to look at the clouds…" he said after a long silence. I sighed and laid down once again. "Why did you suddenly want to cloud watch?" his question surprised me. Why was he in the sudden mood to talk? And why did I come here? Oh yes to think, but if I said that he might want to ask me what about? And that, I haven't the foggiest…

"What do you find so damn interesting about them? Can you tell me? I really wanna know," I lied. I always lied about what and how I'm feeling, but since I'm so damn good at it, no one notices. He stayed quiet. I looked to him. Again with that freaking annoyed face.

"Are you gunna tell me, or not?" I asked sounding and looking as irritated as him. The truth of the matter is, I don't really care what he thinks is so interesting. I hate rainless clouds, and watching them go by makes me feel nothing more than a hypocrite.

I "glared" at him again since he wasn't talking.

"The shapes…" he said after a while.

"Huh?" I asked raising a brow.

"Yeah, the shapes. They always come out to be something that I wanna look at," he said blankly. Why was he telling me? He would usually just brush me off by saying, "Too troublesome…" or some other kind of bull shit like that.

"What?" I asked looking at the clouds again.

He sighed angrily then said, "You lack the imagination." That surprised me too. Well, I guess he's right, I don't have much of an imagination.

I made my eye twitch, "'Lack the imagination…' What the hell's that suppose to mean?" I inwardly sighed. I hate my reputation. At least he was staying quiet again. My reputation made me sigh out loud in defeat. He's not going to tell me. It doesn't really matter. The truth is I'm actually as apathetic about everything as Shikamaru.

"Look at that cloud. It looks like you," he said pointing at a cloud. I looked at it, nothing. He then surprised me when I felt him shifting my head slightly to the left to match his. It looked almost exactly like me, besides the puffiness off it all… and the fact that that 'me' seemed to be smiling.

"Yeah, but that one looks like she's been laughing," I said smiling lightly.

"…_the shapes. They always come out to be something that I wanna look at."_

That phrase he said came back to me. If what he said was true, then that means he wants to look at me? What the hell?

"Most of them usually are," he mumbled.

"You make it seem like you see me a lot," I laughed nervously.

"I do." Wow, Shikamaru sure is just full of surprises today, now isn't he?

"Why?"

"Because I want to," he said standing up and walking away, "and you look better when you smile."

I followed him. There's no way he's gunna get the last word in. "What do you mean?" I asked grabbing his arm.

"Oy… too troublesome…" he said lazily taking his arm away and stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"Tell me," I said running in front of him.

"You really wanna know?" he stopped.

"If I didn't, would I ask?"

He sighed and scratched his head, "Mmmm… how troublesome… I think… mumbles something inaudible"

"What?"

"I think Ihaveacrushonyou," he said looking at an, apparently, really interesting flower.

It took me a while to comprehend what the hell was going on. "Shika-kun… You know I love Sasuke-kun…"

"Yeah, I know. See you at practice," he said bitterly as he walked away.

"I'm sorry Shika-kun…" I said to his retreating form.

**T.T**

My eyes flew open. I hate this dream. Why must I always have it? I have no use for it. It's such a useless memory… It only shows me that I'm a freaking idiot. I didn't love, or even like Sasuke at that time. He was only an object that Sakura and I just had to compete for.

I got out of bed to wash my face. "Why?" I asked my reflection, "Why did I reject him back then? Did I really love Sasuke?"

Why did I even ask that question? No, I didn't. Maybe when I was younger, but then he became a thing that I wanted like a child wants a doll. I shook my head lightly and looked at the clock: 5:30 am. Good a time as ever to wake up from a bad dream.

I took a quick shower and changed into my training clothes. Today I had another training session with Uzuki-sensei.

**With Uzuki**

"Hahaha. You were as stupid as me when I was a kid," Uzuki-sensei laughed hitting my back lightly.

"Huh? Happened to you eh?" I stared up at her. We were walking back to the village after our session and she asked me about my love life. If I knew she was going to laugh, I should have kept my mouth shut.

She laughed some more and nodded. "Do you remember Hayate, the chuunin examiner? He always seemed like he had a bad cold…" she paused to see my answer. Her happy aura went to that of a sad one as the wind blew her log purple hair in her face.

I nodded, "Him?"

Her smile erased the sadness that she once held, "Him. And! Since your guy's not dead, you still have a chance with him!"

"W-what!? I don't want to go out with him anymore," I said standing up.

"Oy," she punches my head a bit, "don't get all fake on me now. He still trains with Asuma so it'll be easy to get you two together again."

"But I don't want to! Besides, he's going out with that sand girl…" I spat like poison.

"WHAT?!" sensei yelled angrily then calmed down a moment after, "SO?! You take him back! He's too good for her."

"You don't even know her… or him for that matter," I said when the facts just suddenly hit me.

"Ah, you see Ino… this, is the point," she raises her left index finger, "And what you said is beside it!" she laughed as she uses her right hand to show it's beside the left.

"But Uzu-"

"Ah! Who's the sensei?" she interrupted.

I sighed, "you are…" She always did this…

"That's right! And being what I am, I know what's best for you!" she smiles happily as she pats my head, "Now lets go get you your Chikamaro!"

I sigh again, "Shikamaru…"

"Oh tomato, tomato."

When sensei has her mind made up, there's no stopping her, but… it is nice to see her get so excited about something. Usually, she's never so animated.

"Uzuki-sensei…" I asked as she lead me somewhere. Probably to where Asuma-sensei usually trains…

"Yeeess, my little student?" she replied with a ear to ear grin.

"How long have you been training me for?"

She stops in her tracks and gives me a quizzical look. "Uhm. About 2 years… What're you getting at?" her violet eyes were fixed on me.

"I'm getting no where! Just keep on leading! I'll be right behind you! Oh great and paranoid sensei of mine!" I said doing a mock bow. It's times like this that make me see her as a big sister.

She puts pressure on my bowed head causing me to fall. She gasps, "It appears I have to train you more on balance…" she mumbled to herself and continued to walk. And it's times like this that reminds me that she is, in fact, my sensei.

I start to follow her on auto-pilot. I looked blankly at the rocky ground. I look up and I see, not Uzuki-sensei, but Shikamaru, walking away from me just like my dream. My heart started to ache as I regretted not going after him. As I regretted saying what I did to him. I shake my head in a desperate attempt to make that depressing image go away. I look up only to find that Shikamaru is no longer walking alone but with that damnable sand sibling. Was this what they call jealousy? Do I even have the right to be jealous? I turned away as I could feel my heart aching again

I shut my eyes tightly and brought my hands up to grip at the sides of my head. "Just… Stop…" I mumbled trying so hard to make me forget. Trying so hard to make this feeling go away.

"Ino-chan?" the moment I heard my name, the realistic memory disappeared and I opened my eyes to worried violet ones that belonged to my sensei. "Ino-chan… you alright?"

I regained my composure and looked up to her with a reassuring smile, "I'll be fine."

"Good! Because we're almost there!" She winks, then turns around to point an accusing finger at me, "Now don't you go chickening out on me!"

I laughed, "Now remind me again what I'm supposed to do?"

"You, my dear girl are going to get the man of your dreams!" she said loudly.

"Oh yeah, 'Hi Shikamaru! I know we haven't seen each other in a couple of years but I was wondering if you wanted to go out sometime!' That makes loads of sense!" I rolled my eyes only to receive a whack on the head. I hold the spot she hit me with and look at her angrily. "What was that for?!"

"For being stupid! MUHAHAHAHAHA! And you can't do anything about it because I know more than you," she stuck out her tongue, holding her rubber hammer evilly.

I wanted to laugh, I honest to God really did, but my stupid reputation only allowed me to get mad right back at her. "How was I being stupid?!" I yelled angrily.

"Oh silly, you know I won't tell you anything if you ask me fake questions! It just amazes me how you think you can get away with your reputation act," she tapped her hammer on my nose.

"I'll show you a reputation act…" I mumbled taking the hammer and started hitting her with it.

"HEY! NO FARE!" she laughed then stops completely causing me to stop hitting her. I look at her strangely and she smirks getting me into a head lock. "You think I can't tell when you're not alright? It's good to see you back to normal, girl." she winks and lets me go.

I frown at her while fixing my hair. She always did have a knack for reading people. Just like the day we met…

** two years ago **

It was the day I finally became a chuunin and I was celebrating with the other people who had passed. In reality, I wasn't too excited about it. But why wasn't I?! I mean now I get to do more dangerous missions that have a lower chance at coming back than ever before! Who wouldn't be excited about it?! Of course I'm thinking that sarcastically because I could never say this out loud. In my mind I am as bummed out about it as Shikamaru was when he became a chuunin, but I positively can't say or show it.

As I looked around happily I noticed that no one was looking so, hey, I sighed. You would too if you had to be in my position. We were in the rain village and guess what it was doing! Big surprise, It was raining! All I wanted to do was to get outside and sit there. But my reputation makes me unable to get my new chuunin vest wet. Not like I'm going to be wearing it, mind you. There's one thing about my reputation that I'm actually thankful for and that's that I have a good fashion sense and right now, this fashion sense is telling me to get this ugly green thing off me as soon as this night is over. After tonight, there's no way in hell this thing is going to rest on my shoulders again, even if I have to fight Tsunade to keep it that way.

Thunder crashed and made the lights go out for a second. And in that very second, I ran a hand through my hair in annoyance as everyone around me gasped I mumbled, in an inaudible tone, "why can't today just end..?"

The lights came back on and I pretended to freak out in typical girly cliché fashion. When the moment passed I, again, made sure no one was looking, and rolled my eyes while shaking my head. Hey, sometimes I have to let the real me show. I closed my eyes so I can have a little moment of peace.

Why oh why did I make my reputation into someone with all the things I hate in people? Why do I have to sacrifice my true feelings anyways? Wait… never mind… I knew the reason, I'm just asking the wrong question. Is being popular really worth everything I'm doing? I groan and put my hands over my face.

"You know, I think people would like you more if you were more honest to yourself," I heard a female voice. I rub my hands over my face, she's probably not talking to me.

I hear that same voice laugh, "Heh, if you want to go outside in the rain, you can. Nothing's stopping you." I freeze. I wonder who she's talking to… I look up only to see a lady who was most definitely a high ranking ninja staring at me.

"You're a pretty good actress, and not to bad a ninja, have you ever thought about becoming an undercover specialist?" she smiles brightly. I frown and look behind me and she laughs as she pats my head, "I'm talking to you little-miss-faker."

I start to freak out. How does she know?! "Wh-what are you talking about? I'm not a faking anything!"

She stares at me then bursts out in what seems like uncontrollable laughter. I stare at her angrily and resist the urge to hit her because I've got something called respect for the elderly. I fume with anger but stop and look away. "You're crazy, lady!" I say in defeat. I really wanted to stay and ask her how she could read me so well. I thought I was flawless.

"Hey!" she grabs my arm, "Sorry about that. Let's start over. I'm Uzuki Yuugao, and you are?"

Wait… she's Uzuki Yuugao?! THE Uzuki Yuugao?! I've read so much about her, her and her team of anbu always get to do such interesting undercover missions… and she wants to know who I am?! Although I'm freaking out about her on the inside I'm look at her angrily on the outside.

"Hahaha, I see you've heard of me," she lets go of my arm and smirks. "Well little-miss-faker, I want-"

"I'm Ino! Yamanaka Ino!" I cough, "so don't call me that. It's demeaning." I look away from her and her cocky smirk.

"Well Ino, Tsunade's been bothering me about taking in a student and-"

"YOU WANT TO MAKE THAT STUDENT ME?!" I practically yelled at her out of excitement.

She then hits me on the head with a rubber hammer, "yes, but under two conditions," she raises two fingers. I nod eagerly. "First! You have to get rid of that nasty habit of cutting people off when they're trying to tell you something."

I laugh, "uh-huh, what else? I don't have all day lady!" I asked impatiently although I'd much rather talk to her more than whoever's walking up to me with a very obnoxious aura.

She hit me on the head again, "My second condition is…. You have to be yourself. Save the acting for your missions, and don't say you're not acting because I know you so desperately want to take that ugly vest off and hit Gai with it as soon as he gets close enough to try to give you a congratulations death hug."

I laughed. So that's who's behind me. "INO! YOU DID IT! CONGRATULA-" he was about to do exactly what Uzuki said he would before I did exactly what I wanted. Take off my chuunin vest and whack him with it.

"Good girl. Now I'm going to tell Asuma that I took his student," she walked past and towards my former teacher. Well… at least now I get to be my real self. I must say… if feels great.

"Ino! That wasn't very nice!" dad said scolding me, he looks as though he's had one to many to drink. It's almost unbearable to watch him like that. I just want to drag him by his pony tail and lock him in his hotel room.

"I'm sorry, daddy! Please don't be mad at me!" I look at him with puppy dog eyes. Hey, old habits die hard. Is all I have to say. Yuugao-sensei will have her work cut out for her.

** present **

"no…. Ino… INO!" someone yelled at me. I shook my head and laughed.

"Aw crap. Did I blank out again Uzuki-sensei?" I bonked my head stupidly as I look up expecting to see my sensei, but the world is full of surprises. I not only didn't see my sensei but saw none other than, "Shi-Shikamaru?!"

**TBC.**

**AN:** Ok, sorry if that was confusing. Anways, I have no idea as to what I should do next so review with ideas so I can get the other chapter up.


	2. Chapter 2

**Rain**

Chapter Two

**AN:** thanks to those who reviewed, special thanks to tomboy14 for your suggestions. They really helped with the writers block! ;)

On with the story!

"_no…. Ino… INO!" someone yelled at me. I shook my head and laughed._

"_Aw crap. Did I blank out again, Uzuki-sensei?" I bonked my head stupidly. I look up expecting to see my sensei, but the world is full of surprises. I not only didn't see my sensei but saw none other than, "Shi-Shikamaru?!"_

He looked at me with his same annoyed face, "As troublesome as always, I see Ino." he scratches the back of his neck then looks up at me with a smirk, "You blank out on your sensei?" I could tell he was resisting the urge to laugh.

I blush like mad then hit him with my sensei's hammer, "Oh be quiet! If I remember properly, you used to blank out all the time!"

He chuckled, "Ahhh I grew out of that, Ino-chan. If I remember correctly, you never blanked out. Now what does that say about you?"

For the first time ever, Shikamaru- Nara Shikamaru, beat me in an argument. I don't think my eyes could have gotten wider as I stared at him. I saw him smirk smugly. Wait…. Shikamaru never smirked. I then felt an anger that only one person and one person only could achieve. "Uzuki-sensei?!" I could feel the blood rush to my face out of anger.

"Uzuki-sensei? Now that sounds like a good teacher. I bet she's as pretty as her name…" 'Shikamaru' said in admiration.

I look at 'him' blankly and flick 'his' forehead while adding my chakra into the flick making him poof into a ninja puff of smoke, "Uzuki, what's the first rule of the henge transformation?"

Uzuki grins from ear to ear while scratching the back of her head, "If you don't know the person, keep your mouth closed… I'm soooo sorry Ino-sensei." she then looks up at me and smiles like the cat who caught the bird, "That face was priceless though, I think I'm going to cry because I didn't have a camera handy."

I hit her on the head with a rubber hammer, "I hate you sometimes." I walk away angrily, her laughter fading as I go. I stop suddenly… why didn't she stop me?! I tried to turn around and head back to her only to find out that my stopping suddenly wasn't of my own free will. I look down and see my shadow take on an odd shape and disappear behind me.

I furrow my brow and scream on the top of my lungs, "NARA SHIKAMARU! YOU LET ME OUT OF THIS JUTSU THIS VERY SECOND!!!"

"Ino? How troublesome. What are you doing here?" I could hear the young Nara speak behind me. I feel a sudden warmth when hearing his voice. It brought back comforting memories…

Realizing that what I was thinking may show on my face, I make my eye twitch as I struggle against his jutsu. "Gawd damnit Nara… you let me go before I make you," I threatened. Surely he would know that I can't do anything with my back turned to him.

I can hear him sigh behind me while mumbling something inaudible. My hands move by themselves as they form the familiar seal showing that he's going to release me. It was my turn to sigh of relief as I'm able to control my own body.

"Sorry, Ino," he mumbles as soon as I turn around to see him. To my surprise he looked tense. Wait… did I say "surprise?" Heh, it'd be surprising if he wasn't. My reputation made me a raging lunatic that would make it so my wrath would make him remember not to do that again for at least a week. But if I did that, that would mean all the training that Uzuki-sensei and I have done was pointless.

And so, as to not make the past two years pointless, I laughed. I laughed as though nothing was wrong because, hey, nothing was wrong! He's probably training, and I must admit, his reflexes has gotten a lot better of the years. I then saw something I have never seen before. Nara Shikamaru, the forever annoyed Nara Shikamaru, actually LOOKED confused! I was beside myself with laughter. I couldn't help it, he looks like a puppy with his head tilted.

I try to control my laughter, "Pfft. N-Nara… s-stop looking at me like that!!! BWAHAHAHAHAA!!!" I hit his back gently.

His confused face turned back to his annoyed one as he looked away, "Troublesome girl…"

I stop laughing suddenly and lift my hand up to brush my hair out of my eyes, as I did so, I noticed that Shikamaru flinched. I chuckled, "Calm down Nara. I'm not as violent as I was before." He eyes me strangely, unsure of if he should believe me or not. "Quit being so paranoid already!" I laugh holding my head. His eyes widen for a split second, "No, I didn't learn how to do some impossible jutsu that allows me to read your mind. Uzuki-sensei has taught me how to read people, baka," I say rolling my eyes.

"Ehhh. How troublesome," he stuffs his hands into his pockets.

"Don't you troublesome me, Mr. Nara!" I said play angrily as I punch his arm lightly. I don't know why but it's so comforting to be in his presence. I sigh again as I hear no response from the shadow master. "Hey Nara, are you done training for today?" I ask with a little hint of hopefulness in my voice.

He looks at me suspiciously, "Why?"

"Because! We haven't spoken to each other in, what? A year or so! We should-"

"Two," he interrupted. I gave him a look that said that he should explain himself, so that's just what he did, "We haven't talked to each other in two years."

I couldn't help but smile warmly at him. I can't believe he remembered. "Awww did you miss me that much that you remembered how long it was?" I giggled and he said nothing. Well, he didn't deny it… I shook my head. "anyways, I'm in the mood for Korean BBQ. Do you still like going there?"

It's funny, I always thought that Shikamaru was so hard to read, but here I am, knowing that he's thinking that I'm going to make him pay for our meal. Sure it'd be nice but I AM the one who sent the invite. So I say "Silly, I invited you, so I'll pay. Don't worry, I'm not going to make you pay in the last second," I reassured while shaking my head.

He frowns, "I'll go if you quit reading me."

I laugh and walk towards the restaurant. He follows silently behind me. Now… how can I have a decent conversation with him if he's behind me? I laugh a bit when I figure out that he's probably doing that so I don't unintentionally see something on his face that he would rather not have me see. Now, here's the big question: what is it that he doesn't want me to see?

"Nara! Why're you walking so slow?! I can't have a nice conversation with you if you're so far behind!" I stop and put my hands on my hips as I wait for him.

"You're still bossy," I heard him mumble.

"Only because you let me," I stick my tongue out at him and wink then continue to walk.

"Hey," I heard him call as he grabs onto my arm and pulls me in his direction making us centimeters apart. He looks at me squarely in the eyes, "You're the only one I'll let boss me around so don't push it."

I stared at him with wide eyes. As he made my heart skip a beat. "Wh-why me?" was the only think I managed to stutter out.

He brushed the bangs out of my eyes with his free hand and said softly, "You always asked too many questions."

My heart was racing and I felt as though I had butterflies in my stomach. This was Shikamaru right? Since when did he have this effect on me? I never knew he could be so… So, sexy! The instant I thought that I felt the blood rush up to my cheeks in a heated blush. Now, I mustn't let Shikamaru see that so I wriggle free from his grasp and laugh nervously.

"We should go. Chouji goes there in an hour and I don't want him to find out that I went there(AN: what's that place called anyway?) without him, you know how he gets," he mumbled walking ahead of me.

I nodded slightly then followed him on auto-pilot as I normally did when I was with Uzuki-sensei. My head started to hurt because I was so confused. Stupid Uzuki-sensei for making me meet up with him. Although Uzuki didn't make me start up a conversation with him nor did she make me invite him out to dinner, but that's besides the point! I would have been fine not talking to him for a long long time.

Aw crap… I'm following Shikamaru. I'M FOLLOWING SHIKAMARU! Now he must think that there's something wrong with me and he immediately regrets doing whatever he did to me… what DID he do to me anyways? GAH! I shouldn't think about this anymore! I'm thinking too much. C'mon Ino, regain control! You can do this! Now stop talking to yourself in your head and talk to the Nara you're FOLLOWING!

I shake my head, slap my forehead and scream. Shikamaru turned around instantly with a scared for my life look on his face. I then smile happily and flick his forehead.

He touches the spot where I hit him, "I forgot you had mood swings."

I bonk him on the head with a rubber hammer, "That wasn't very nice Nara-chan. Come to think of it… I haven't talked to Chouji in forever too, how is he?"

"He's alright I guess… still sucks at shogi though," he chuckled to himself.

"Welp, not everybody has a 300 IQ silly, I bet I can beat you though. I have a flawless strategy," I laughed menacingly.

He raised a brow then smiled slightly as if to say, "whatever crazy Ino." So I punched his arm slightly and laughed. Talking to him makes me feel weird, I mean, I haven't talked to him in what seems like forever, but it feels like I've never left the group.

** at the restaurant **

"Wow… this place hasn't changed a bit!" I exclaim as we were led to our usual spot by the hostess. I then let out a slight squeak as I sit in the booth. "Oww. Nope. Hasn't changed at all… I still think that they're booths are uncomfortable… what do they fill these with? Rocks?" I whine as I try to find a comfortable spot.

I could feel Shikamaru's eyes on me so I look at him weirdly, "What? You think I'm over reacting don't you?" I pout.

He smiles warmly while shaking his head, "No. I was just thinking that you're acting different… yet… not…" He then averts his eyes onto the menu to keep from looking at me.

"What a strange thing to say, Nara! I'm not sure whether I should be insulted or complimented," I replied looking as confused as I sounded.

"You should feel a little bit of both," he noted as the waitress then came up to us and we said our orders. (AN: forgive me, I'm feeling very lazy right now)

"Hey Nara, do you always order the same thing? It seems like whenever we used to go here, that's all you ordered…"

"It's a force of habit, I think I got too much though…" he replied looking out the window, probably to stare at the clouds.

I looked up and gasped out of happiness, the clouds! They-they're gray! Finally! It looks like it's going to be a huge storm. Shikamaru looked at me strangely, no doubt wondering why I gasped for. "Don't worry Nara! I ordered too much too! I blame Chouji, I always get the feeling that he's going to eat everything so I should order more than I can so I may at least get one that kinda cooked all the way!" I replied sounding both like affection and hatred.

The waitress came and brought us our meat and I smiled happily as I placed the pork onto the grill.

"Yamanaka, why were you in the forest today? I thought Uzuki-sensei trained you indoors," he asked mirroring me.

I stopped and looked at him curiously, "Why did you just call me 'Yamanaka?!'"

"Because you keep calling me 'Nara'" he said in an almost scary calmness.

I stared at him with wide eyes, was I calling him "Nara?" I shrugged then threw a piece of meat at him, "Have you been hanging around Hyuuga Neji often?"

He catches it with his chopsticks and eats it, "I sometimes play shoji with him, why?"

"Because I think his freakishly calm air is starting to rub off on you, that one always scared me. It's like he's a robot!" I laugh as I take another bit of well cooked meat and ate it. "Oh my.. I don't think I ever had a fully cooked anything here!" I say as if it's the cure for cancer.

Shikamaru laughs then stops suddenly as I see his eyes glance at the door. "Huh?" I asked as I turned around. My eyes widened as I saw who was standing there. No…

"Oy Shikamaru! What are you doing here?" the four pony tailed sand anbu said walking up to us. "Oh I didn't know you were with someone, mind if I join you anyway?"

I diffidently don't want her to sit with us. I will not allow her to sit with us. I refuse to let her eat with us. I absolutely positively will not-nor allow her presence to be with mine while I eat. I'll just tell her that we're talking about old times and it'd probably make her feel really REALLY uncomfortable because she doesn't know what we're talking about. Yeah! That's it! I'll just say that! That way I sound really nice and considerable.

"Sure! You're Temari right? The Kazekage's older sister?" I swear I'm going to rip out my own mouth for saying things that I don't want it to.

"Yes I am," Temari says curtly then takes the seat next to Shikamaru. "I didn't see you in the meeting today," she says to him. I can't tell if she's intentionally ignoring me or if that's just her personality. Whatever it is, it makes me sick.

Her aura feels as though she's challenging me. So I can't help but get that competitive feeling I had whenever Sakura was around Sasuke. It's a feeling that I both love and hate, there's nothing more fun than a good challenge, but Shikamaru deserves to be more than a prize. I want to look away, I want to get out of here, but for some odd reason I can't. I can't leave. My body is betraying my will and it's keeping me glued to this damnable booth.

I gasp and look surprised, "You had a meeting today, Shika-kun?!" I hate this I hate this I hate this. Why oh why do I have to act like I'm so concerned?! I don't care if he didn't go to a meeting! He would probably forget what was talked about the moment the meeting was over. I could feel the frustration I'm feeling inside show on my face. Eh, they must think I'm just mad at him. How I wish I could roll my eyes.

"That was today?" He asks being very blasé about it as he continues to eat. He looks as though he just didn't want to go there. I wonder why… maybe the reason why he was in the forest today was because he was hiding out from being dragged into it. Ah-ha! No wonder his guard was on so high!

Temari laughs and reaches for some meat, "You didn't miss much, not that you were worried anyway. It was only about 30 minutes."

I laughed as well, "Knowing you, you'd probably sleep through it anyway."

"Shut up," he mumbled and threw some rice at me.

"So… you two are close," Temari said with her eyebrow raised, "Why haven't you mentioned her before?" she paused, "what was your name again?"

If I could I would throw the pot of hot tea at her and scream at the top of my lungs JUST GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE ALREADY, but "Oh sorry about that, I'm Yamanaka Ino. We've never met because I'm part of a different branch of ninja. You should tell Shika-kun all that he's missed, it'd be horrible if he did something that'd make the chuunin exam anything less than perfect," I said almost threatening him.

Temari smirked, "I like this girl." I swear I think I'm going to hurl. I certainty don't want HER of all people to like me.

"You can tell me later. I'm busy," Shikamaru replied sounding very irritated. Oh crap. I don't want to be with her any longer than I need to. I'm sure Shikamaru would want me to leave.

I smiled, "Oh don't worry about me hearing something that I shouldn't Shika-kun. I've got to meet up with my sensei right now," I say getting up and out of the door. Well at least my body and mouth did something that's a step up of watching the two sit together.

** in a hot spring **

"Ahhhhh…" I say as I most literally melt into the hot water. I normally go here when I have a stressful day. It's a nice and hidden open air natural hot spring, well it's mostly open air since it's in an even harder to find cave.

"Nice isn't it?"

"Oh yeah…" I reply while closing my eyes.

"So how'd it go with your dream boy?"

"Argh, don't even ask about that Uzuki-sensei," I say dumping my head into the hot water. I then see her legs as she joins me.

"I saw the whole thing, coward," she said throwing a forehead towel at me. "I can't believe you acted so fake like that! You! My only student! If Tsunade-sama heard that, she'd laugh at me!"

"Then don't tell her about it! Argh! I don't wanna talk about it anymore, I just… want… to relax," I said massaging the crook of my neck. "I already know how pathetic I was, I was basically turning the whole place green!"

"Now I wouldn't say that. I thought you handled yourself quiet nicely!" she smiled happily.

"WHAT?! I thought you were scolding me!" I hold my head since she was making it hurt so damn much.

"Silly Ino, trix are for kids! You need to listen to me more, I said I couldn't believe it, not that it was the wrong choice!" she laughs as I let out a groan of annoyance, "It's a GOOD thing that you didn't make a scene and cause a fight so close to a chuunin exam! Your instincts are developing well. It's just a shame that you had to run to a spot that your dear deer doesn't know…" she said playing with one of her violet locks.

I lift the towel over my eyes to look at her, "well, you've got my attention. Go on."

Uzuki-sensei smirks but continues anyway, "Hmmm, I had some of my birdies scouting the area like they normally did AND it seems that they saw your deer frolicking where you and your old team used to meet! It was so heartbreaking how he looked after he couldn't find you," she said mocking sadness.

"Ohhh…"

"Ah get out of here, the pouring rain is a lot more therapeutic for you than this clammy ol hot spring," she said most literally kicking me out.

I stumbled onto my feet and started changing, "I-its' raining?!"

"Yup, about an hour after you left, now get out get out. I need some relaxing time."

I smile to myself as I walk out just in time to be greeted by a flash of lightning. "Ahhh… now THIS is heaven!" I say letting the cold drops fall onto me. I narrow my eyes as I notice that the thick tree leaves surrounding me were stopping most of the wonderful droplets. I brush my long bang out of my face and adjust the fish net on my arms and knees as I get ready to run towards the flower shop.

** Yamanaka Flower Shop **

The shop was the tallest building on my block and there was virtually no trees around it so it'd be just me and the rain. We had a covered outdoor patio on the roof and I could just lay on top of it for hours on end, forgetting all of my troubles, all of my duties. Everything that was important to me or anything that made my upset was simply washed away. I always thought that the rain purified my soul so that I could have a fresh start the next day.

I sigh happily as I was soaked to the bone. As the cold wind blew I shivered slightly since the abdomen showing shirt and miniskirt combo that I was wearing didn't cover much at all. I closed my eyes as I just simply listened to the soothing white noise of the rain.

I heard an unnatural splash as if someone landed on the roof. I wonder why I didn't react. Was I too lazy to? Or was it the fact that whoever that was wasn't doing much of anything but move to the cover that was my patio. Whoever this was, was certainly not threatening.

Many minutes passed and the person moved as if to take something out of a back pack. I then heard a series of clicks. I open my eyes hearing that it sounded strangely like Mores code.

_I-N-O I A-C-C-E-P-T Y-O-U-R C-H-A-L-L-E-N-G-E. C-O-M-E D-O-W-N I-F Y-O-U'-R-E N-O-T S-C-A-R-E-D._

**TBC.**

**AN:** if you got a little confused when Uzuki was talking about deer's, shika means deer in Japanese. So yeah. Uhhh please reviews are appreciated. Thanks much, Autumn.


	3. Chapter 3

**Rain **

Chapter 3

**An:** thanks to all who reviewed. I'm trying to write these as fast as I can so, um... I hope I don't disappoint?

On with the story!

_I was laying on the patio roof while I let the rain hit me. The person that was sitting quietly under me moved as if to take something out of a back pack. I then heard a series of clicks. I open my eyes hearing that it sounded strangely like Mores code._

_I-N-O I A-C-C-E-P-T Y-O-U-R C-H-A-L-L-E-N-G-E. C-O-M-E D-O-W-N I-F Y-O-U'-R-E N-O-T S-C-A-R-E-D._

I didn't move, I wouldn't allow myself to. I won't let who ever this person is think that he or she has the upper hand. I just can't allow it. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. "Who are you?" I ask sounding very much unconcerned.

Nothing, no reply just the rain. This person's just waiting for me to come down. I sit up from my position and stretch my arms. I try to concentrate on whoever's below me. They feel familiar... but not, I've never felt this before in my life. This newly discovered feeling is both intriguing and frightening at the same time.

Well, let's bring up all the facts. Who have I challenged lately? I know I don't do that often so maybe I did or said something that sounded like a challenge... now, what did this person take out of their bag...? Most weapons don't sound like that so it's not a weapon... Speaking of sounds: the mores code it made wasn't on my glass table, it sounded more like wood and rock... Gah! What did it take out?!

Alright, let's take a step back and try to find out what other hidden motives this person may have. It sure doesn't feel like it wants to kill me. So a duel to the death is ruled out. Knowing that my life isn't at stake should be enough of a reason to just go down there and say hi to the person, but I feel like I should be prepared for some unknown reason.

AH! And here's another question! Why mores code?! Is it because I know this person enough to recognize their voice?! This is more frustrating than an exam! Why am I taking this so seriously?! Now this person must think that I'm scared or some paranoid loser! Geez! I hate this I hate this I hate this!

I could feel my head start to hurt. I'm thinking too much about this. I should just cool off for a second... I lay back onto the roof as I look up at the dark gray rain clouds. Ahhh... If Uzuki-sensei was here, she'd tell me to get over it and just go down there. I already know that this person doesn't want to kill me.

I sigh and get up. I had long since had my hair out of it's ponytail and it was clinging onto my arms and face uncomfortably, so I fix my hair to make it so I'm not feeling unpleasant. If I do have to fight this person I don't want to have to worry about my hair. I then walk up to the edge of my patio roof and jump onto the floor below me.

The instant I did so I look at this mystery person only to find that they're covered by the only shadowy part of my patio. I had to resist the urge to fall down because of the irony of it all. I look away from the figure and onto my glass patio table. My eyes nearly fell out of my sockets at the image I saw. I must say... I really DIDN'T have to worry.

"You did all this... so we can play... shogi?!" I yelled angrily.

"You said you had a flawless strategy," I could hear Shikamaru reply lazily. I groan loudly and take the seat opposite of him, as I did so he coughed, "Wear this, it's not much but you're cold." He took off his chuunin vest and handed it to me. Now how would he know that I'm cold...? I furrow my brow then my heart skipped a beat when I saw his eyes wonder down ever so slightly. I gasp as I noticed that my chest broadcasted to all who could see me, that I was, in fact, very cold.

I grumble under my breath as I am forced to wear the vest that I have vowed never to touch my skin again. I suppose this time can be an exception though. I always thought girls looked cute when they wore something that their boyfriend gave them. NOT that Shikamaru's my boyfriend, mind you. Well... not yet.

"Thanks I guess, but you ruined my flawless strategy!" I laughed turning this bad situation to a pretty funny good one.

He looked at me amused, "I thought you grew out of that 'Sexy Ino' stage."

"You can never grow out of a sexy anything stage! Those of the male species are so predictable! In the words of my sensei, 'If you've got it flaunt it, your girls are a good diversion to any strait guy!' The girl practically gave me a trophy for thinking Sexy Ino up," I laugh as I reminisce that time.

He stares at me strangely the shakes his head to laugh a bit, "Sounds like you're having fun with her... Do you have any other teammates?"

I smile lightly and shake my head. "Nope, I'm Uzuki-sensei's only student. She says she won't be able to find someone as weird as I am until I'm apart of her anbu squad," I reply rolling my eyes, "She always had high expectations of me." I could see that Shikamaru was at a loss for words so I decided to change the subject, "So, we going to play shogi or are you scaaared?" I teased wearing a very confident smile.

"Just don't be mad when I beat you," he replied reaching for a piece, but before he could get to it, I lightly smacked his hand away. He looked up at me with a raised brow.

"Nah-ah-ah! Where are your manners?! Don't you know losers go first?!" I said looking at him like the child who lied about taking a cookie. He looked at me and, for the second time, I saw Shikamaru utterly and completely confused. I knew that my smile was so big that the Cheshire cat would be jealous so I say very cattily, "Do you honestly think that I'm going to be able to beat you?"

I saw in his eyes that he was struggling not to smack himself about how confident I sounded about losing so I couldn't help but laugh. I'm guessing that my laughter was so contagious that I got him to chuckle a bit.

I don't think that Shikamaru and I ever really laughed together. Come to think about it, we weren't as close as we could have been. At the time, I guess I supported him as a teammate and him the same but there didn't really seem like there was much at all after that. Heck I remember that I wasn't particularly sad that I'd be leaving the team until about a week later.

I could feel my sadness start to creep onto my face, but I erase it immediately as I make my first move. I could see Shikamaru's eyes widen as it seems that people don't normally make that move. To tell you the truth, I don't know much about the technicalities of shogi, but I know the basics. Hey, maybe I'll win of pure beginners luck... or the fact that I could read his reactions like a book. I may not know his strategy but I do know what tiles he doesn't want me to move.

The first couple of turns were slow, well, slow enough for us to be able to talk, but, as the game progressed, I could see that Shikamaru was really getting into it. I have no idea as to what I was doing but I could see in his eyes that he was thinking that I was some kind of genius. I had to stop myself from laughing about a million of times when his face just screamed "I wasn't expecting that."

I honestly don't know how long we were playing, well how long he was playing. The storm was still going strong as if to tell me that it'll be here for a while so I didn't mind sitting here- not that I minded in the first place. I mean if it wasn't raining I would still be here playing shogi with him.

I didn't notice this earlier but Shikamaru set up everything up in a way that'd make most of me in the rain and him, well, not. I wouldn't put it past him to find out about my infatuation with the rain, but it's not like I tell everyone about it.

Shikamaru stops suddenly and looks at his watch. "hey… I need to get home," he says, but he looks like he wants nothing more but to keep playing.

"Huh? Why? Don't you want to finish?"

"I do… but I have to leave on a mission at 4 am tomorrow morning."

"Ohhh… it's a shame… I was just about to beat you too," I say stretching my arms back so the rain could dribble down onto them.

"I thought you said that there was no way for you to win?" he asked putting away his pieces.

"Oh be quiet, you know I'm just talking out of my ass," I reply as I help him pick up the pieces. "OH no! I'm getting all your tiles wet!" I exclaimed flailing my hand about to air dry it. While we were playing I made sure that my right hand was dry so I don't accidentally wash off some ink.

Shikamaru caught my wet hand simultaneously placing a tile in it, I froze and stared into his eyes, his dark brown eyes said that they wanted to tell me something, his whole body language told me that they wanted to tell me something, but what? What could it be? It felt like all time froze as he opened his mouth. "Don't… just… don't worry about it," he said letting go of my hand then zips up his pack.

I was watching him leave, "Sh-Shika-kun!?" I asked without realizing it. I wanted to ask him something. It felt like it was something urgent, like I really needed, no… wanted to know… But what was it? He turned around, "uh. Umm.. Y-your tile! A-and your vest!" I spat out taking the vest off and showing him both objects.

Shikamaru smirked a bit and stopped, "Our game's not over, you get to keep them until I come back."

Since when was he so assertive? I must say, it's pretty cool. I bet he had everything all planned out from the beginning… Welp! Just because I know that much doesn't that mean I'm going to make it easy to leave me like that, he didn't even say good bye for cryin' out loud! "What?! You think you can tell me what to do now?" I say faking anger as I throw his stuff at him then turn my back on him angrily crossing my arms.

"Troublesome girl," I heard him mumble. I was expecting to have him leave me with that but, Shikamaru's just full of surprises. I could hear him as he walks close enough for me to feel his body heat behind me, my heart started to throb in my chest but I had to stay "angry." Why's he standing so close? What's he doing to me?!

I'll tell you what he's doing to me, he's putting the tile in my back pouch! Which, may I remind you, is resting on my, ahem, rear! Before I could make a move out of anger he engulfs me in his vest then, after making sure it was on me, his arms tightly surround my waist as he zips up his vest from behind. After doing so, he doesn't leave me, oh he does just the opposite. His arms tighten around my chest and waist as he brings me into him in a warm embrace. I could feel his warm breath on my neck as he just stays there for a while. My anger seems to have been washed away by the rain as it poured down on us.

Say something Ino! C'mon! You're supposed to be angry with him remember?! "Sh-Shikamaru…?" oh great! That sounded as convincing as Hinata is extroverted.

"Please don't be mad… you… you're cold. I… I just," Shikamaru whispered still trying to find what he wanted to say. He tightened his hug a bit as he continues, "I'll be back in 3 days… um… please, wait…" Was… w-was this what he wanted to say when he first gave me the tile?

I then felt a presence racing towards the shop with great speed, that could only mean one thing… Father was coming back. "Bye," was the last thing I heard before he let go of me and jumped off.

**Next day 3:45 am**

I didn't get a wink of sleep, but now's the time for me to leave. It's finally time for me to leave! Maybe once I get there and come back I'd be able to get some rest! Ahhh… I worked hard at making these so they better like it!

I ran towards the village's main gate where I was told Asuma-sensei's other team was to be leaving for their mission. If I am to become a member in their(Shikamaru) lives again I might as well start by seeing them off.

"There they are!" I said to myself as I could see the three familiar figures of my old team. I slowed my pace a bit as I wave to them once they notice me.

"Ino?! Wh-what're you doing here?!" Shikamaru gasped as he saw me. Why's he surprised? He practically told me where and when to meet them.

I giggled at the surprised look on their faces. "Geez, you're all looking at me like I came back from the dead! Is it a crime for a kunoichi to visit her beloved old team?" I asked looking very hurt.

"'Course not. I was wondering when you'd pop up again. how are you?" Asuma-sensei asked recovering a lot more quickly than the others.

"I'm alright, but anyways! I heard you all were going out on a mission so I made you all a bento!" I smiled happily as I showed them their lunch boxes. I looked at their faces and I felt an anger that I haven't felt in two years. "Hey! Don't give me that face! I'm a good cook! And after I made all the stuff I remembered you all liked…" I yelled feeling my face turn red and my eye twitch. They all looked at me amazed at how I was able to tell what they were thinking.

"Hahaha, thank you for making this, Ino. I'll make sure they eat it all," Asuma-sensei assured me being the first to recover again.

"Thanks Ino! Looks great!" Chouji said looking in his huge lunch box and drooling.

"Ehhh… how troublesome," Shikamaru mumbled taking the bento and looking away.

"I'll take that as a 'thank you ever so much! You're so nice to us Ino-chan!'" I say dramatically then bonk Shikamaru on the head angrily. "Alright! You guys should go! Let's go out for Korean BBQ the next time we go out! Bye bye!!!" I yell as they walk away.

"Welp! That felt good!" I say to myself again as I turn my heels and run for home.

_Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!_

I heard my alarm clock sound. "Argh…. What time is it?" I mumble squinting since my eyes haven't adjusted to the light yet. I look at my clock to read the red numbers. "8:30?! OH NO!" I scream throwing what was left of my sleepiness at the wall in front of me as I sat up quickly. My training with Uzuki-sensei starts in half an hour! GEEZ!!! She's going to kill meee!!!

I jump out of bed and stumble over to my bathroom, I multi tasked by brushing my hair and teeth at the same time. When I was done with that I quickly changed into my clothes, slipped on my sandals and jumped out the window. Why jump out the window? Because running across the roofs of buildings is a lot faster than walking out the door then jumping on the roofs, silly.

I guess I slept in since I didn't have a horribly depressing dream to wake me up. I sighed happily as I realize that the weather was worse than yesterday. Today would have been a great day if only I didn't sleep in…

AH! Enough of that now, Ino! Concentrate on getting to the training site! Uzuki-sense'll kill you if you're late!

**Training area 8:59 am**

"I'm heerrreee!!!!" I say sliding in the mud so I stop in front of Uzuki-sensei. I smiled up at her happily as I was right on time. She was holding an umbrella over her head and looking very miserable. Uzuki-sensei doesn't say it, but I know she hates the rain, but… even though she hates it. She makes us train outside when we'd normally be in a room in the hokage's building.

"Great!" she replied pointing above us. We were in a clearing so I wonder what she was pointing at. Oh great… she made a tightrope that could easily be a half a mile long. "I told you we need to practice your balance! What better way to do that than by doing this?!" she says being very excited about it.

I groan a bit when I hear that she wants me to walk across that 50 times, while wearing leg and arm weights and holding a 50 pound weight in one hand and a 100 pound weight with the other. Oh and may I add, if I fall off, I'd have to start all over, but when I'm done, I could do whatever I wanted! Isn't that just swell?! XD … T.T

It's time's like these when I start to hate stormy weather. The wind is strong and harsh making the water colder than it already is and the water makes the weights seem a slight bit heavier. On my first lap, I nearly fell about 7 times because of the stupid wind. Geez, Uzuki-sensei sure likes to torture me.

"Soooo, how was the rest of your night after you left me?" Uzuki-sensei asked as she watched me walk across my 30th time. By this time, I was getting used to walking back and forth on this rope thing so I suppose it's alright for me to talk to her.

"It… was, hmmm… strange…?" I said unsure of how to call it.

Although I'm not looking at my sensei I could tell she had a raised brow, "'Strange?' Why do you say that?"

"Hmmm… well, that's how it was! It was strange! Really… strange…" I traveled off letting my mind think of other things. Three day's isn't that long… what does Shikamaru have planed for when he comes back? Surely he wants to do something other than play shogi by the way he said good bye. I felt a blush rising to my cheeks as I continue to walk the tightrope.

"Oh-HO! Now you've got me interested. C'mon give us the story," her voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I sigh, she absolutely, positively saw my blush. I know if she didn't, she wouldn't care anymore.

I chuckled, "well… I went home to lay on my patio… someone came to join me, I saw them, we played shogi, they had to go, so they left. That's all!" I say trying to end it there.

"Oh don't give me a half assed story!" she yelled throwing her rubber hammer past my face. "So tell me who this mystery person is."

"It… it was Shikamaru…." I mumbled as a flash of lightning struck less than a mile away.

"SHIKAMARU?!" she screeched then, like magic, she was standing in front of me. She picked up my chin and stared into my eyes then gasped. "He did something to you! I hope it wasn't too naughty! Hehehe," she laughs eyeing me weirdly.

"N-no! He just hugged me and told me he'd be gone for 3 days! That's all!" I replied trying and failing to keep my cool.

"Well that's no fun…" she furrows her brow then pushes me off the tightrope and lands next to me. "Training's over, the weights you're wearing will conduct lightning. Sooo… take the rest of the day off!" she says happily as she walks towards the village.

I roll my eyes, she may have been worried about me, but I bet she just wanted to end training early today. I wonder why… OH WELL! Alls well that ends well! I happily let go of the weights and stretch.

**In a park 4:00 pm**

Once I got all of my weights off I started to walk around like my normal rainy routine. All this time has gotten me thinking about earlier this morning. When I came to see the team off I thought Shikamaru would be happy to see me but he just looked annoyed. I don't really understand… just a couple of hours before that he seemed so sad to leave me, but now, I'm not even sure.

"Argh! I hate this!" I groan as I sit in a bench and lean my head back. My long hair was slicked back so I could feel the rain drip down my scalp.

"It's just a shame that you had to run to a spot that your dear deer doesn't know… …it seems that they saw your deer frolicking where you and your old team used to meet! It was so heartbreaking how he looked after he couldn't find you…"

I suddenly remember what Uzuki dramatically said to me. She also said it started to rain an hour after I left… does that mean that he was looking for me in the rain? Did he really leave Temari to see me? What happened with him and Temari anyway… well not much if he went after me.

"Ahhh!!!" I screamed bringing my head into my hands while they rest on my knees. If he DID do all that Uzuki-sensei said he did, then why did he act so blasé when he saw me this morning? Why did he act so loving one second then hate me the next? Well it's not like I wanted him to be all over me then but he could at least looked at me. Gosh he didn't even do that!

"Ino? Is that you? Are you ok?" I hear a girl's voice say to me riddled with worry.

"Huh? Um yeah I'm fine," I look up and see a girl with her hair made up into two buns and wearing a pink Chinese style shirt. "Thanks Tenten." I mumbled smiling slightly to her.

"You don't look fine. What's on your mind? Maybe I can help," she says tilting her head slightly and adjusts her red umbrella a bit.

I look at her for a second then look away. How could she help if she doesn't understand…? Wait… "Tenten! You're older than me so you should, you know have more experience than me right?!" I say getting up very excited.

"Well I should… but I'm only older than you by a year," she said scratching the back of her head, I could see that she was struggling not to laugh at my strange question. I must say… she's handling this very well.

"Oh that doesn't matter, you're still older! Anyways! How do you make a guy who acts like they're annoyed by you like you?" I stared at her with hopefulness filling my whole being that she'd know the question.

I guess she couldn't hold it in anymore because she laughed lightly then put a finger up to her chin and looks up into her umbrella, "Hmmm… does he act exceedingly nice to you sometimes and then brushes you off a second later? Like he didn't care?"

"OMG YES! Story of my life! So what do you do?" I ask eagerly smiling at her. If it were any other girl I probably would have scared her with my mood swings.

Tenten giggles some more then waves her free hand at me, "Sorry Ino, but I can't help you because I'm in the same boat as you!" she says then sighs.

"Hey now, the always annoyed Nara's mine Mickey mouse," I saw glaring at her.

"Huh? Um… You can have him? I'm talking about the grumpy yet completely calm Hyuuga!" she says scratching the back of her head.

Would you look at that… I've got a new best friend. Tenten and I talked for a while longer and we shared our painfully confusing stories. I feel kinda bad though… I just barely touched on my feelings for Shikamaru and I haven't really worked on them until… yesterday! But Tenten… Tenten's been trying to get her guy for years now. You can't really say that though… she's never said how she felt for him out of fear that he'd reject her.

"… and that's my story," Tenten completed smiling halfheartedly. I could see in her eyes she was a little sad as she talked about him. It was almost painful to hear how much in love she is with him.

"Well those were sad stories," someone said from the tree above us. What?! I didn't even feel anyone around. I could see that Tenten was freaking out about this as much as I was. How could we not sense her? Wait… her…

"Uzuki-sensei, you need to stop scarring people like that. You nearly gave me a heart attack!" I say throwing a rock at her. I saw that Tenten calmed down when she found out it was my teacher.

She smiles cattily as she jumps down between us. "I know I know. I think I can help you two get your guys though. I just thought up the perfect plan!"

**TBC.**

**AN:** ummm... please review, it makes me feel better about my writing. T.T


	4. Chapter 4

**Rain**

Chapter 4

**AN: **sorry for the long wait! I didn't get too much reviews and it made me lose the will to write. sighs dramatically anyways! Thanks to all who reviewed! I love ya to death! Now on with the story!

_Uzuki-sensei smiles cattily as she jumps down between Tenten and myself. "I know I know. I think I can help you two get your guys though. I just thought up the perfect plan!"_

I felt my heart skip a beat as I swallowed hard. What could it be? What could she be thinking? And more importantly, why didn't she tell me this sooner?! "Well?! What is it?!" I yelled being unable to hold in my excitement.

"Have patience, Ino! Tenten!" Uzuki-sensei exclaimed making Tenten jump slightly, "Gai and the rest of your team is waiting for you in, as he said 'the usual spot.' you shouldn't make him wait any longer."

"Oh no… I forgot about the meeting today… I guess I'll go…"

"That would be best, I'll contact you when the time is right and your secret's safe with me," Uzuki-sensei smiles calmly.

Tenten nods and jumps away umbrella and all. I couldn't help but envy how fast she is, I assume Gai-sensei does a lot of speed training because Lee and Neji need it, but wow. What really amazes me is how she keeps her legs looking so great! One would think that lots of running would build muscles on ones leg, but hers look like they did when I first saw her.

Oh geez, look at me, I'm thinking so much about that that I totally forgot about Uzuki-sensei's plan! "Uzuki-sensei! Why did you send her away?" I say putting my hands on my hips.

"Because I needed to talk to you privately, silly!!! The way you told your story to Tenten made it seem like you've been chasing him for a while," she says looking at me suspiciously.

"Um yeah… about that…" I mumble brushing my wet hair out of my face.

"Ino," not only did her voice change, but her whole body language said that this was something serious, "I need to know if you truly have feelings for this boy."

"Uzuki-sensei? W-what a ridiculous thing to say! Why would you doubt them?"

"Wasn't it just yesterday that you were telling me that you had no feelings for this boy? Didn't I have to force you into talking to him? Why did you change your mind so suddenly?" she asks as she stares at me with her cold violet eyes. I look away from her hoping that the rain would make it so she can't see my face so easily.

How am I supposed to reply to that? What does she expect me to say? Why's she being so serious about this anyway? Argh, this is so confusing… Uzuki-sensei can be so cold sometimes.

"Ino, I'm not being mean to you, you must understand that I'm doing this so no one gets hurt. You must see it from my position: You haven't seen him in years and once you do you think you're head over heels in love with the guy? It just seems like you're acting like a kid that's received a new toy or pet. I need to make sure that you're not seeing him like that, that a week or two from now, you still feel the way you do."

"Uzuki-sensei…" I finally managed to get a word in and it comes out sounding pathetic… just great.

She smiles slightly at me and puts a hand on my shoulder, "Just think what I said over, alright? Remember! 7 o'clock sharp tomorrow morning!" She then punches me and jumps off.

I sigh as I decide to get out of this park. I let my feet walk and take me where they want, it would be rude of me not to think about what Uzuki said, but how could I forget? I haven't ever seen her so concerned about something other than a mission. Maybe she sees something in me that reminded me of her. She did say that she acted like me a lot when she was a child… Maybe she saw Hayate like I did and maybe she broke his heart or something…

Why am I thinking about Uzuki-sensei's love life when I should be thinking about mine?! I don't want to subconsciously see Shikamaru as a new toy, I know that much. Why am I suddenly able to see myself having a future with Shikamaru? Maybe I AM just obsessing over him because he's "new…"

I sigh again as I stop and look where I'm at. "The meadow…." I mumble as I take in the scenery. I always thought this place was beautiful, but now… Now they're just breathtaking. It's amazing how bright the green stands out against the dark gray rain. But… why am I here?

I decided that thinking about this too much would be pointless so I walk to the top of the tallest hill and lay down. My back pouch was bothering me so I untied it from my belt and placed it under my head, as I moved to do so I heard something fall out. So I get up and look around only to find the tile from last night.

I blush lightly as I pick it up tenderly as I almost relived the moment Shikamaru placed it into my hand. I sigh lovingly as I lay back onto the wet grass. I lift the tile up and face the letters towards me. It was the 'Queen' tile, I remember in our game he did everything he could to protect both the king and queen… I understand why he would try to keep it safe, it's pretty powerful, but why give ME this piece…

If I ask him why he gave me this one I wonder if he'd say something like: "Because Ino… you are my queen!" I instantly burst out laughing after this thought. Like Shikamaru would say something as corny as that, besides, I bet he'd say something smarter and a whole lot cooler. You can never really tell with Shikamaru, he'd always just end up surprising you.

I get up and look around again. I chuckle. This is the spot I normally found Shikamaru cloud watching. Argh, is it just me or am I thinking about Shikamaru a whole lot lately? OH NO! what if I'm slowly becoming one of those annoying obsessed chicks that everything they see and do become referenced to the guy they're in love with?!

A cold wind came rushing at the meadow that sent chills down my spine. Maybe I should get home soon. It's pretty dark now and I feel as though I need to do something tomorrow… Uzuki said something about meeting up at 7 but we're not going to train… What's 7 tomorrow…? I gasp as my eyes widen. I forgot about our mission! Aw crap.

**Path to (insert village/town here) 1:28 am.**

This has to be, by far, the worse walk to a mission… ever. Uzuki-sensei and I have been walking this damnable path for about 6 hours straight! Sure it would have been fine but she hasn't said a word to me, heck, she barely said anything when she briefed me about this mission! AND we didn't even have lunch yet! And the unpleasantness continues! It's not raining here! Most of our missions are fun and exciting because we talk so much, but this is just so boring it's driving me crazy!!!

"ARRRRGH! Uzuki-sensei!!!!" I scream nearly pulling my hair out. She looks at me surprised. "I'm so bored… please say something! I'm sorry for whatever I did but, c'mon!" I say holding my hands up in defeat.

"THANK YOU!" she says loudly then engulfs me in a very girly hug, "I thought you wanted to think about what I talked about yesterday so I kept my mouth shut, but I'm so bored as well!" her happy aura then changes back into the creepy serious one she had last night. "You did think about what I said riiight?" she glares.

"I did… and…" I sigh as I start to play with my bang, "I realized that I feel different whenever I'm around Shikamaru… and it's not that I feel different in a bad way. I mean… my… um, what I'm trying to say. Hmmm… I don't know what I'm trying to say, but I always feel like I need to look good when I'm going to see him… and my heart tends to speed up whenever I'm near him and, even though he makes me feel a little bit nervous, I feel relaxed… Gawd, I don't even know what I'm saying anymore…" I say trying to hide my blush.

"Hahaha, sounds like my little girl's growing up to be a fine ninja!" she laughs hitting my back playfully.

"So are you going to tell me your plan yet?" I say eyeing her weirdly.

She laughed nervously then looked around, "hey, aren't you hungry? Let's eat lunch! While walking!"

"Uzuki-sensei…" I glared at her then something hit me, "Why does it seem like we've been walking non-stop?"

"Weeeell, I thought that you'd want to get this mission over with as soon as possible, Tsunade-sama said that the estimated time that we would be back in Konoha was 4 days, but if we continue to walk at this pace, we'll be back a half day shorter!" she explained as she takes out her lunch.

"OH NO! we have to get this over with quickly then!!! Why are we walking?!" I yell as I just barely remember Shikamaru's wish of me waiting for him to come back. Argh, we better book it! I could hear Uzuki-sensei laugh as sprint towards (insert place here)

**5 days later, Konoha.**

Argh! Why do things have to take so long?! All we had to do was deliver a letter and we had to go through so much crap! I punch a tree leaving a huge dent in it.

"Don't take your frustrations out on the scenery, Ino!" Uzuki-sensei said grabbing my arms, "I'll report back to Tsunade-sama. You, need to relax. I'll see you later," she said letting me go and walking in the direction of the hokage's office.

I sigh as I walk into Konoha again. I wonder where Shikamaru is… I hope he's not on another mission already. Knowing him, he's probably off doing a life threatening mission. Oh no! what if he's on a mission in Suna? What if he and Temari finally decide to…

NO! You need to think positive Ino! Maybe, his team is also running late so it doesn't seem like I didn't wait for him. But… knowing Shikamaru, he'd probably make it so his mission would only take 3 days. I mean, when he puts his mind to something he'll do it. But it's not like he wants to see me THAT badly… why would he?

"AH! That's not thinking positively, Ino!" I scold myself as I hit my head repeatedly. Ok! Okay… Heh, I bet he's going to be in the first place I look or, he'll find me when I least expect it… yeah… sure… that's it… GAWD how stupid am I?! I never thought this thinking positively crap was going to be so damn hard! How the hell does Naruto do it all the time?

'But Ino! You've got to see the silver lining AROUND the beautiful white fluffy cloud!' some dramatic part of me says in my head.

I hate white clouds! I don't even like looking at them, much less try and find a "sliver lining!" Argh. Now I'm arguing with myself. That's right folks. I'm either crazy or I have too much time on my hands…

I sigh once more as I punch a near-by tree. I really should be getting to the shop soon… but who the hell's going to buy flowers in this weather!? I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but it's raining sheets.

**Yamanaka Flower Shop**

The Yamanaka Flower Shop is closed for the day. Sorry for the inconvenience.

I could feel my eye twitch as I read the sign on my door. And to make things worse… this is one of the few times that I forgot my keys… I bang on the door and scream out for my parents, but just my luck, they aren't home. Sure I could just break in but the last time I did that, my father nearly killed me.

"What would my family be doing at this time anyways…?" I ask myself aloud because I damn well can and will. I place my right hand under my chin and think for a second. The rain seemed to want to tell me but, sadly, I don't speak rain so it sounded like… well… the rain. ;;

This is going to be a tough nut to crack… Welp, let's bring up the little known fact about my rents: they're the type that think just because it's raining that they should just stay home and do nothing; so what would they do out now?! I mean, they don't even like to go out with their friends unless…!

"AH-HA!" I exclaimed as I remembered the one thing my family would be doing out in a rainy day. "It's decided! My new mission is to find my parents and get home to rest! I will complete this noble mission even if it costs me my life!" I yell dramatically to the clouds above me. I must look like an idiot, but it's not like I care much about what anyone thinks of me.

**Nara Forest (AN: or whatever the hell the Nara's call the forest that they keep their deer in)**

"Why's it so hard to find my damn parents?!" I yell out of frustration. I was standing in front of the Nara main house screaming bloody murder at it. I knew no one was in there, it's just bad to keep things locked up inside, ya know?

I roughly wipe my bangs and extra water away from my eyes as I glare at the forest behind the house. There's supposed to be a barn somewhere in there but I have no idea where. The fact that I've never been in the forest kind of scares me since they may have set up traps all over the place to stop people from getting to their precious deer. I don't want to get myself killed or seriously injured because I walked into a forest, that only the Nara clan could go into, based on a hunch that I had that my parents MAY be in there. Whew, what a run on sentence!

I glare harder at the forest as I jump onto the roof of the house. I see the barn a little north east of me and that it has a path. And here I was thinking that this was going to be hard. I resist the feeling of smashing my head against a wall and run towards the deer barn.

Confused? Well the Nara's normally put the deer in the barn when it rains for more than a week so they don't get stuck in the mud and break their leg or something, my parents usually help so that's why they're here! They probably just finished herding and is just relaxing now.

I slow up my pace when I hear the familiar voices that belonged to my family and the Nara's. When I get to the barn door I knock on it politely and wait… and wait… and wait some more… I knock politely again and, again, nothing. I clench my fist as I feel a vein in my head look like it's going to pop as my eye twitch. I could hear my family laugh happily while I'm standing outside… in the cold… while knocking on the door like an idiot… twitch twitch twitch "I will not be ignored!!!" I yell as I go berserk on the door.

"Did someone hear something snap?" I hear my father ask from inside. Suddenly! Everything turned black for a second and when I was able to see again the barn door was reduced firewood and somebody was holding me, wait. Scratch that… A lot of somebody's were holding onto me.

I laugh nervously as a sweat drop appears over my head. "ehehehe… Sorry about the door…"

"Ino-chan…" I could hear Shikato say sternly behind me. I look at him with apologetic eyes as I mumble sorry over and over again. "You've gotten so strong! Amazing!" he says happily as he lets go of me.

"Hasn't she?! Uzuki's brought her home so tired out from her week long trainings that she could barely move! I'm so proud of her!" I hear my father say as he hugs me.

"Uhhh…" I say nervously as I look around. Shikato was looking at my father out of what seemed like envy. I guess Shikamaru's never came home worked so hard that he couldn't move… Lucky… and before I was able to look at everyone in the room…

"Ino! When did you get here? Did you just get home?" he said turning me so that I was facing him.

"Um yeah, but you and mom weren't there so I went to look for you because I don't have my keys," I explain trailing off. I don't know why but I feel very annoyed for some odd reason.

"Oh, it's a good thing you didn't go inside, we just painted the house and we can't open the doors and windows so we're staying at the Nara's until the fumes die down. I could have sworn I told you this before you left…" mom said trailing off. I feel my eye twitch again, but before I could yell at my parents for being stupid:

"Ino! Why're you so wet?! Did you walk all the way here without an umbrella?! You should get changed before you catch a cold!" Shikamaru's mom said from behind me. Now where did she come from?

"Um… I-it's alright Mrs. Nara. I'll be fine-"

"Nonsense! You get to my house this instant and take a nice hot bath!" she said then turns to her left, "Shikamaru! Give her a change of clothes and heat up the bath for her!"

"But Mrs. Nara! It's ok!" I say not wanting to get out of my clothes. Wait.. Did she just say "Shikamaru?!" oO;;

"Don't fight her, she's more stubborn than you, let's go," I hear the familiar sound of my ex-teammate next to me. I sigh in defeat as I mumble a thanks and follow Shikamaru out of the barn and towards the house.

**TBC.**

**AN:** please don't hate me! And please, oh, please review! It motivates me!


	5. Chapter 5

**Rain**

Chapter 5

AN: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! you all make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! (hugs you all) I made this chap a bit longer to make up for the short other one. As you can see, i popped this chapter out pretty fast so i hope you enjoy! and now for shoutouts to all my homies!

tomboy14: i made sure to add an extra Shikaino cutness fluff and some akward-ness just because you asked! XD thanks so much for your support too! You always give me ideas as to what to do next without even realizing it!

missionquestthing: oh geez, i wish i had luck like that, sure it'd be almost a living hell, but it sure as hell wouldn't be boring! 

pixiedust8831: KYA! (huggles) i'm so glad you like her! i was worried people would get annoyed by her! (shifty eyes)

GerardsGirlx3: I'm glad you like it! i love the smilie... (takes it from you) mine!

cool-girl027: (bows) thank you! i hate it too when they make her so bossy! i always thought she just did that because, well she can! hehehe.

OKAY i hope that's everyone! Now on with the story!

_"Nonsense! You get to my house this instant and take a nice hot bath!" Yoshino(Shikamaru's mom in case you forgot) said then turns to her left, "Shikamaru! Give her a change of clothes and heat up the bath for her!"_

_"But Yoshino-sama! It's ok!" I say not wanting to get out of my clothes. Wait.. Did she just say "Shikamaru?!" oO;_

_"Don't fight her, she's more stubborn than you, let's go," I hear the familiar sound of my ex-teammate next to me. I sigh in defeat as I mumble a thanks and follow Shikamaru out of the barn and towards the house._

As Shikamaru and myself were about to walk out the door I senced something fly towards me. I was about to panic because something was going to hit me, but then I remembered that I was a ninja and I could simply catch said flying object. So! As the thing was going to hit me, I turned quickly and caught it.

"An umbrella?" I ask out loud as I look at the adults standing in front of me. This feels funny in my hands, I don't think I ever used an umbrella for rain in my life. Sure I like to use parasols to complement an outfit I have, but never for the rain! Surely they don't expect me to actually USE this!

"Shikamaru! You better use that with Ino-chan, I don't want you getting sick either!" Yoshino demanded. Kami no… she really DOES expect me to use it! I look at the thing in my hands as if it turned into the scariest thing I ever saw in my life. Then, it vanished! Well it didn't "vanish," Shikamaru took it mumbling something that had to do with a troublesome mother and what not.

I wipe the hair out of my eyes again as I see Shikamaru open it then look at me expectantly. "What?" I asked since he looked more annoyed than usual.

"She only gave us one umbrella," he said looking away while stuffing his free hand in his pocket. Now HE'S expecting me to use an umbrella?! I turned around to yell at Yoshino but I felt someone grab my hand and turn me around. "Don't fight it, let's just go," Shikamaru ordered as he put his arm around my waist so I'd be under the umbrella and so I wouldn't run away.

My eye twitched when I heard the rain fall onto the umbrella and I glare hard at him. As if I'm going to let him keep me under here! I need to soak up the rain! It's calling to me! So I struggled like a rabid dog to make him let me go. I suddenly I felt his arm loosen around me and I was about to run for the hills but I heard him laugh.

I stop dead in my tracks and glare up at him. "What're you laughing at?" I yelled poking him on the nose.

I felt his arm tighten around my waist for a second as he covered his face as if he were embarassed. "I'm sorry but… you're just so cute..!"

"Huh?" I asked staring at him like he's from another planet. Did he just say what I thought he said? Did he just say I'm cute? "Wh-what did you just say…? Did you say I'm cute? Are you blushing?!" I asked knowing full well that he was.

"If you didn't hear me the first time I'm not going to repeat it!" he shot back at me turning his face away.

"Awww!!! You ARE blushing!! Lemme see lemme see!!!" I said as I playfully darted back and forth looking for his face. He started running away from me telling me to leave him alone or that he's not blushing. I never knew he was so fast! I jumped into the air and landed in front of him with a smart grin on my face.

"You caught me…" he said lazily holding his hands in the air, oddly enough, he was still holding the stupid umbrella. I was about to say something smart but he grabs me and throws me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Shi-SHIKAMARU!!!! Put me down!!!" I yell kicking and flailing my arms about.

"I don't want to," he replied lazily then jumps a bit to make himself a bit more comfortable. At least this makes one of us comfortable! I was doing everything I could from making a big deal about his hand being on top of my butt to keep me from moving. Well… at least he didn't squeeze… Should I be happy or sad about this?

"Argh, I give up, you're so stubborn sometimes… If you put me down, I promise that I won't run out into the rain," I say as defeated as I felt. Nothing, he didn't reply to me, only kept walking. My eye started to twitch as I was getting fed up with this.

"No more Mrs. Nice Girl, Shika-kun! You brought this onto yourself! You're going to put me down because I know your weakness!" I say nonchalantly. He tensed a bit after I said this so I started laughing evilly as I began tickling him. Not everyone knows this, but Shikamaru is very ticklish.

He acted as though he has grown a tolerance to being tickled but he's going to give way soon! I know it! And, after a minute of trying he bursts out into laughter then drops me onto the mud. It didn't hurt that much, but why not make this fun? I shriek a bit and hold onto my cheek as if it were hurt badly.

"Ino!" he gasps as he drops the umbrella and leans down next to me, "What happened? Are you ok?"

I sniffle as I look away from him sadly. In truth, I was fine, and.. Making him feel bad is kind of making ME feel bad, BUT! I'm going to finish what I started damnit! He took my chin into his hand and gently turned my head to face him. My heart started pounding. He looks so worried about me… I gulp a bit when he takes my hand away from my cheek and gasps. Oh no! Did I really hit my cheek?! I may have hit it when I fell but I could have sworn I saved my face!

I didn't realize how close we were until now. I was sitting on the mud with my legs strait in front of me with my hands holding my body up and Shikamaru kneeled beside me close enough for me to feel his body warmth. The hand that was on my chin some-how made it's way to the back of my neck as he leaned in and placed a light butterfly kiss on my cheek.

"I'm so sorry Ino," he whispered quietly in my ear. He got up and offered his hand to help me, I blushed deeply as I took it and he pulled me back onto my feet.

There was an awkward silence between us as we walked the rest of the way to the house. I wanted to say something, but what? What could I say that wouldn't make me out to be a complete ass? I sigh as I step onto his porch and watch as he takes out his keys and open the door.

He turned to look at me. "You know where the bath room is, the towels are in the cabinet. I'll get you some clothes," he said taking off his sandals.

I mumbled a thank you as I watched him vanish into his room. I let out a sigh as I nearly ran into the bathroom in an attempt not to make too many puddles of water. I closed the door quietly as soon as I get in. Opening the cabinet I find the towels, taking off my soaked clothes as I dry myself off.

"I'm leaving the clothes outside the door," I hear Shikamaru say from the other side of the door. I soon hear footsteps of him leaving and I open the door ever so slightly so only my hand can fit through and take the clothes. I didn't really look at them until I had them on. It was a simple black t-shirt and a pair of navy blue baggy shorts, that, may I add, were about twice my size. I shrug as I walk out while towel drying my hair.

Walking out of the bathroom, I tried to sense Shikamaru; I was pretty cold and I wanted to ask him if I could borrow a blanket. I knew he wasn't in his bedroom so I looked into the living room and low and behold, there he was. Throwing a chunk of wood into the fireplace. "They're a bit big on you," Shikamaru stated after he saw me standing his clothes.

I laughed a bit as I sat onto the couch. "Really? I thought they fit me perfectly!" I joked punching his arm slightly. "The fire's beautiful! Oh! Looking at it makes me want to roast marshmallows!" I say smiling happily.

"You think I made it just to keep warm?" Shikamaru smirked back and tossed a bag at me.

I looked at what it was then jumped off the couch and next to the young Nara. "Now look who's reading my mind!" I exclaim looking for sticks only to have him give one to me. I opened the bag of marshmallows and impaled one and place it over the fire.

"We use to do this all the time when we were at the academy, you remember?" I asked as I watched the fire dance around my marshmallow. When my parents were away on a mission I'd always stay here. On a cold or rainy night his mom would always make a fire and let us roast marshmallows. I can't believe I forgot about this until now. I must say… this was one of my favorite childhood memories.

"Yeah…" he said trailing off. I guess he forgot about it as well and went into his own mind to remember it.

Although I was sitting in front of a fire, I still felt cold. Maybe it was because I just came back from a walk in the rain. It's not really surprising if you think about it. I always had to wrap myself in my thick comforter for about an hour before I felt warm again. I involuntarily shivered as I reached out to take the nicely cooked treat off the stick.

"You cold?"

"Ah, um, a bit, but I'll be fine," I answered trying to find the right words so he wouldn't leave me. Sure I was cold as hell but I guess I'm just greedy like that.

"Liar," he replies as he gently brings me closer to him. His legs were spread apart and his arms held onto me in a way that was absolutely comfortable for me. My upper body was facing him making it so my arms and head was resting on his chest. "You know I don't like seeing you cold…" he trailed off as he brought the magical blanket that seemed to have popped out of no where around us.

We sat in a comfortable silence. I closed my eyes after getting over the shock that Shikamaru was holding me. The clicks and snaps that the fire made mixed with the sound of rain was soothing and his heartbeat seemed to have relaxed me. I no longer felt annoyed, I no longer felt anything negative at all. It was strange… I think I feel more at peace being in his arms than I ever felt standing in the rain.

"… Ino," he said my name quietly.

"Hm?" I slowly lifted my head off his chest to look at him, our noses almost touching. My heart started to speed up as I saw Shikamaru look at me in a way I haven't ever seen before.

"I…" he started to say. I averted my gaze from his eyes to his lips and… well it's hard to explain… I felt something almost magnetic as I lean upwards towards his absolutely kissable lips. I remembered closing my eyes then hearing something I wish I didn't.

"Hahaha! Tell them about the time when Chouza snapped at those grass nins!" I heard my father laugh loudly and my eyes shot open. I paniced as I saw the knob to the front door turn.

Shikamaru, on the other hand, moved me away gently while placing a stick with a marshmallow in my hand and wrapping the blanket around me. I saw him pick up another stick and a marshmallow as he coolly pretended that nothing happened, or was going to, as our parents walked in.

The moment they walked in, the father's took over the marshmallow roasting while telling us war stories. I never really listened to the stories before but they're actually pretty funny!  
I look towards Shikamaru while laughing, but he looked away. Heck, ever since the four came, he started ignoring me completely! What the hell's going on here?! Every time I spoke a word to him he'd dismiss it like I said nothing at all! This is just like how he acted when we were 11!

Maybe I was just overreacting. I mean, he probably doesn't like me anymore… But… was all the nice things he did to me just an "in the moment" urge? Or maybe it was just him being "nice." Oh no… what if he was doing all that as practice moves he could use on Temari?

"Ino-chan! Phone for you!" my thoughts were interrupted by Yoshino.

"Huh? Um thanks," I said getting up and taking the phone. I bring the receiver up to my ear, "Hello?"

"Ino? It's Tenten… I would really like to talk to you right now…" Tenten said sounding like she was crying. My heart skipped a beat when I heard her sniffle, "I know this is out of the blue, but I didn't know who to talk to…" she sounded almost desperate, it was heart breaking.

"It's fine. You want to meet up?" I said trying to reassure her. I heard her mumble an agreement. "Ok… meet me at the same place we met at the park. It'll take me a while to get there though."

"O-ok… Thanks Ino," I heard her sound a little bit happier. I smiled slightly to myself as I hung up the phone.

What could be wrong with her? I always thought Tenten was a pretty strong girl. Something terrible must have happened to her to make her cry like that. I just about ran into the bathroom to change back into my damp ninja clothes. I could tell that my anxiety was showing as I ran back out of the bathroom and towards the door.

"I have to go out, I'll be back around dinner!" I called out hoping that at least ONE of the 5 people in the room heard me.

I don't know why, but I feel as though I should get to Tenten as quickly as possible. I don't think I ever hustled this much for anyone in my life! I would laugh if I wasn't so worried! Geesh! What happened?! It's strange… Tenten and I just became friends, but I feel more worry for her than I ever had with Sakura.

"Ino!" someone said as they grabbed my arm to stop me. I look up at whoever it was then quickly turn away. "I called your name, but you wouldn't turn around."

"Guess I didn't hear you. Can you let me go? I'm in a rush," I said coldly. I have to get to the park. I just have to. Something tells me that Tenten really needs me there right now.

"What's wrong? What's going on with you?" he asked sounding concerned. For some reason, his concern just got me mad.

"What? NOW you care?! What the hell Shikamaru?!" I yelled out of frustration.

He looked at me shocked for a second then got angry back at me, "I've always cared! If I didn't, I wouldn't be here! I was worried, Ino… You just ran out, without saying anything. I just wanted to be there for you since it seemed bad," he said sounding like he's mentally kicking himself.

What…? He was worried about me? I felt my eyes tear up and I started to cry, but you wouldn't be able to see it because of the rain. "Gawd damnit Shikamaru! You're doing it again! Just stop it!" I yelled while holding my head.

"Stop what? What am I doing, Ino?" he said with a mixture of concern and confusion.

"Just leave me alone! I need to be alone right now."

"I'll go as soon as I know what's wrong! Just tell me what's going on!"

"You're confusing me! That's what's going on! You always confuse me! I.. I just can't take it anymore! You act so nice to me sometimes then you just turn it off and ignore me! And act like… like nothing happened! Or like nothing's going to happen…" I reply back crying into my hands.

"Ino…" he says my name reassuringly. I then felt his arms around me, "I'm sor-"

"NO! You're doing it again! GEEZ! You're so God damn frustrating at times!" I said pushing him away and stepping back from him and force myself to stop crying. I take a deep breath and wipe the rain water and my bangs off my forehead.

I look up at him again and put on a nervous smile and chuckle a bit. "Heh, just forget I said anything alright? I'm sorry. I don't know why I just blew up on you like that, I mean, you were worried!" I force myself to laugh like nothing was wrong. "You're a good friend Shika-kun…" I said squarely looking him in the eye.

He looked away from me. Oh great, he's mad. It would have been fine if he'd just say something to me. I wish he would just yell at me already.

"Look Shika-kun… I gotta run, I'll see you at home," I say turning to leave, but something stopped me. I tried to look behind me, but I couldn't move at all! I looked down and saw the familiar shadow of his jutsu.

"Why do you think you're always the victim? You think I'm not as frustrated as you?" his voice sounded angry.

"I can't play games with you right now! I have to go."

"No. I'm not going to let you run away from your problems anymore."

"SHIKAMARU! Please!" I pleaded as the tears rolled down my cheeks again. I don't know why but, I'm so scared right now. He can see right through me, and I can't tell what he's thinking at all!

"It's rude to hold up a girl by force. Besides! She even asked nicely! C'mon. give a girl her space, would ya?" I hear what sounded like a young man's voice say to him.

"If I do that, I'll never get to talk to her," he snapped back at the person.

"Oh geez, If you talk to her like this, she won't listen to you, ya know? And don't give me that 'I'll make her listen to me' face," the guy paused and I heard him sigh.

"Fine, let me put it this way for you then. Either you let the pretty girl go, or I make you," I hear him threaten. After a few seconds passed my hands moved and formed the seal that would let me go. The two boys probably had a glaring contest and my savior won.

As soon as I felt I could move my body again I turned around and looked at the young man. It was hard to see because of the rain, but I COULD see that Shikamaru was walking away. My hero, from what I could see, was tall with a pretty toned built, he had dirty blond hair, and was smiling back at me. I his smile was contagious and I couldn't help but smile back at him.

"I don't want to sound rude but..."

"You have to be somewhere right?" he laughed. "I understand! I understand! Just get outta here already!"

I chuckled a bit. "Thanks," I said appreciatively then sprinted towards the park again.

**Park 4:30 pm**

I slowed down from my run when I was almost at the place where Tenten and I met. I stopped completely when I heard yelling in the distance. I instantly put my guard up as I jumped through the trees quietly.

"Just go away!" I saw Tenten yell at what looked like Neji. Why the hell did they have to use umbrellas? This would be so much easier if they didn't, and no, I'm not going to blame the rain because the rain's my friend. Neji didn't say anything, he was just staring at her.

"Neji please… just go," she begged almost sounding like she was going to cry again.

"A strong kunoichi doesn't cry-"

"Well I guess I'm not that strong, then am I, Neji?!" she blew up on him, "I'm never 'strong' enough for you! No matter how much I try, no matter how hard I work! I'm never strong in your eyes..."

I clenched my fist into a tight ball. He's making her cry the bastard! I just want to punch his calm ass into the ground.

"You didn't let me finish!" he barked. He stopped as if he realized that saying that only made the situation worse. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath then hugged her with one arm. She looked as confused as I was. "A strong kunoichi doesn't cry in front of her enemies, but does when she needs to. I read that crying's good once in a while… you shouldn't have to hold it in all the time," he sounded like he really cared, but… so did Shikamaru…

"Stop it Neji! Why do you always have to confuse me?!" although what Neji said was really sweet, it only seemed to make her sadder.

My eyes widened, if this is anything like how I felt when I was with Shikamaru, then she needs to be saved! I then saw Tenten try to push him away and, at that very moment, I stopped listening. Rage built up inside me as I saw that she was only crying more!

"You bastard!!!" I yelled kicking him away from her, "Can't you see that YOU'RE the reason why she's crying?! Gawd! You're such an idiot! Just get the hell out of here!"

Neji recovered from the kick and just stared at me emotionlessly as I stood between the two. "Take good care of her," he ordered. As he turned to walk away, I don't think I'll ever forget the how hurt he looked.

I looked behind me to see how the weapon mistress was. Other than visibly shaken, she looked fine. "What happened?" I asked wanting to know the full situation.

She took out a handkerchief and dried her tears. "In a nutshell… We were having a team training session… and I was thinking about something else… so," she chuckles a bit, "I was a little slow on throwing a kunai or 10. Neji got mad and went ballistic on me… I guess I couldn't take it so I ran and called you. Then… well… he ran after me…" she said putting the tissue away.

"It's just so confusing! He gets so angry with me one second then acts like the nicest guy on the earth! I mean… You saw it, right..?"

I couldn't help, but laugh at just how similar our love lives were, "Saw it? Heck I lived it before I got here!"

**The hidden hot spring (first seen in chapter 2)**

Tenten and I decided that it'd be best to go to a place where the two boys couldn't find us so we came here. Although I like the rain better, the hot spring's are good too.  
We talked about what happened with Shikamaru and myself. When I was done she looked at me and, just like I did, she laughed then said:

"It's crazy how our love lives are so alike! But… who's that guy who saved you?" she asked getting very interested in him.

"Yes who!? He sounds absolutely charming! Tell me, did he look like he was around my age?" Uzuki-sensei appeared sitting next to me.

"GAH! U-Uzuki-sensei!?" Tenten gasped holding her chest, no doubt to try and slow down her heart.

"Geez, Uzuki-sensei! You scared the life out of me!" I exclaimed while bonking her on the head with a rubber hammer.

"I know I know, you're scared," she said rolling her eyes, "You'd think you'd get used to this by now! Just answer my question, Ino dear," she demanded. It's amazing how she just shows up at places. I mean, she's even in her towel! I bet she does this just to scare.

"Um, yeah, ANYWAYS… No sensei, he looked like he was the same age or a year older than Tenten," I said only to receive a groan/whine from Uzuki. I couldn't help but laugh at her, so that's just what I did. She splashed some water as a retaliation then laughed as well.

"Wait… a year older than me you say… So what'd he look like? Was he handsome?" Tenten said looking up as if to think about him.

"I couldn't tell," I answered bluntly.  
"What?! How could you NOT tell?" Uzuki asked surprised then looked at me suspiciously, "Me thinks she doesn't want us to know, Tenten."

"How mean, and here I thought she was my friend…" Tenten replied faking sadness.

"Oh shush you guys! It was raining! I couldn't see a thing! All I could see was that he was tall and blonde… oh and he had a nice smile..."

"Ah-HA! So you WERE keeping stuff from us! You admit it!" Uzuki said pointing an accusing finger at me. Tenten started giggling in the background.

"Yes! I know I have done something horrible! Please oh please find it in your hearts to forgive me! But I swear that's all I know about this guy!" I said dramatically.

The three of us then laughed happily. This is strange… I never had sisters before but this kinda feels like laughing and talking with these two felt like I did. What was even weirder was that Tenten and I just became friends! I never thought I'd have this kind of relationship with someone I just met. It kind of makes me sad that we didn't talk sooner…

"Ok you two, I think it's about time I tell you my plan," Uzuki-sensei said calmly. Instantly, Tenten and I were all ears and we waited for her to continue. "Pfft… Hahaha! I can't tell you if you're going to look at me like that!" she said holding her stomach while laughing.

"Uzuki-sensei!" Tenten and I yelled at her.

"Ok, ok… Ahh… I haven't had this much fun in ages!" she said happily, she opened her mouth as if she were going to continue but just gets up and grabs her clothes.

"I think you two should sleep over my house tonight. Before you say anything, I'll tell you that this is apart of my plan."

"You better not be saying that just because you want to pick on us some more…" I say eyeing her suspiciously. Uzuki's reply didn't come verbally, she just smiled at me happily as she tossed my clothes at me and then Tenten's.

**Uzuki's house. 6:12 pm.**

When we got to her house Uzuki called our parents to tell them that we're safe and sound. She then gave us some PJ's and we changed into them. Tenten and I were making some snacks while Uzuki disappeared somewhere.

"Alright you two, here's the plan!" Uzuki says while walking out of her room with pillows and blankets. Finally! Here it is! She's finally going to tell us! "I got the floor and you two can sleep on the couches!"

My eye twitched as I stared at her with anger in my eyes, I heard a thump next to me and saw that Tenten actually fell over. "Uzuki-sensei…." I say threateningly holding back the urge to throw the butcher knife I was holding at her.

"Hahaha! Ok! Ok, no more messing with you two!" her playful smile disappeared as she became serious, "The truth is, this plan of mine won't work if I tell you!" she smiled happily at the two of us.

Now it was my turn to fall over. Tenten, on the other hand, handled this quite nicely though. "What do you mean Uzuki-sensei?"

"I mean, my plan is made up in a way that relies heavily on the way you and your guy handles a situation. We're dealing with peoples feelings here, ladies. I can't just say something and expect it to happen. All I'm asking you is that you two just go with your instincts," Uzuki explained then smiled happily.

Oddly enough… everything Uzuki just said made complete sense… I sigh, Uzuki's always so full of surprises.

**Konoha Café 10:57 am**

"Tenten?

"Yeah?"

"Remind me why we're here again," I asked while yawning.

"Uzuki-sensei said that she had a surprise for us."

"Then why isn't she here?" I asked rubbing my temples.

Tenten giggled, "Because Uzuki-sensei likes to watch us suffer!"

"Hahaha, clearly!" I replied laughing with her.

Confuse? Well this should help you:

**_Earlier today. Uzuki's house 9:13 am_**

_"ARGH! You're fight's with me, not them! Don't you dare touch them!!!" I heard Uzuki-sensei yell as if she were badly wounded._

_I get up from shock and jump into a fighting stance. I look around and find no one's there. Only Tenten with a scroll open and a perfectly healthy Uzuki smiling happily at us._

_"… Uzuki-sensei…." we growl at her. Oh if only looks could kill._

_"OH! You two are up! That's great! I've got a surprise for you two so meet me at the Konoha café at around 11! You two are welcomed to use my shower! See ya then!" and she was gone._

**Konoha Café 10:58 am**

And that is why we're here. Because Uzuki-sensei has us tied around her little fingers like marionettes. I sigh as I take a sip of my tea. Here we are, just sitting here. The café was pretty fancy, it has waiters, a hostess, a full meal menu… ok, so maybe it wasn't just a "café" but that still doesn't make Tenten and I look less like idiots. We were just sitting here looking at menus. The table had three chairs and one of them was empty. Look on the bright side, Ino! At least you don't look like you're being stood up. Thank Kami Tenten's here.

Even though Uzuki's a pain in the ass, she sure knows how to keep ones mind off the depressing stuff. Ever since I met up with Uzuki and Tenten I didn't have time to think about Shikamaru.

I sigh again… Shikamaru… I wonder what he's doing now… I hope he doesn't hate me… I mean, I DID leave him on a bad note… he wanted to talk to me, but I wouldn't let him… I felt my depression show on my face but I just stared into my cup of tea.

"You two are early," Uzuki said sitting across from me on our circled table. I stared at her expectantly and she just smiled.

"Oh we're going to need another chair!" she said to a passing waiter.

"We're having another person?" Tenten said surprised.

"Yup! He should be here any second now! Anyways. You two are probably wondering what your surprise is-"

"Well yeah! Out with it woman! And don't you dare mess with us, I've had it with your stupid pranks," I said sounding meaner than I intended.

She taps my head with a menu, "I would if you'd stop cutting me off!" I giggle lightly as I nod at her in agreement. "Good! Now where was I…? Ok, well Tsunade-sama's been on my ass about taking up two more apprentices so I can lead a normal 4 person squad, and..."

"…And You want Tenten and whoever this new guy is to join us?" I finished her sentence.

"Yes, I believe Tenten would be a great addition to the team, a good marksman is ideal in an undercover squad," she looks at Tenten causing me to look as well. It would be great to have her on my team, but she looked so unsure of herself, "I understand that you may have second thoughts about this, but I need to know your answer as soon as possible."

"Are you going to train me?" Tenten asked without looking at Uzuki.

"Of course, I'll teach you how to read people like I did with Ino and genjutsu to make yourself virtually unseen by the untrained eye," Uzuki replied, the animation she had earlier, was thrown out the window.

"I… I'll join."

I looked at Uzuki and saw… relief in her eyes, "Oh thank Kami. I wouldn't know what to do if you declined!"

We talked about what Uzuki was going to be teaching us and what type of missions we'll get involved with. This was really exciting. I never looked forward to a training session before but this seemed like it was going to be fun!

"Now where is that boy…?" I heard Uzuki-sensei mumble to herself as Tenten and I were talking about funny things that happened during our missions. And as if on cue, Uzuki raised her hand and waved someone over.

"Ah! Look ladies, it's your new teammate. Allow me to fill you in about him. His name is Higure Niveus, he specializes on trapping techniques and he's got a way with words. In other words, perfect for undercover work and a perfect compliment to your Shinranshin, Ino. " she said smiling happily at him.

"Sorry I'm late! I went to the Hungry Cat Café by mistake!" he said smiling goofily.

Tenten dropped her fork and stared at him. I turned around and there he was… my tall blond hero with the contagious smile.

TBC.

AN: Please don't hate me for making the boys a bit(or a lot) OOC. If you have an idea you'd want me to put into the next chap just say the word and i'll do the best i can! Review if you want to know what happens next! Untill next time!


	6. Chapter 6

**Rain**

Chapter 6

**AN:** i swear that i was going to post this up sooner, but stupid ff wouldn't let me! (bangs head against the wall) anyways, i hope you enjoy the chap!

"_Ah! Look ladies, it's your new teammate. Allow me to fill you in about him. His name is Higure Niveus, he specializes on trapping techniques and he's got a way with words. In other words, perfect for undercover work and a perfect compliment to your Shinranshin, Ino. " Uzuki-sensei said smiling happily at him as he walks in._

"_Sorry I'm late! I went to the Hungry Cat Café by mistake!" he said smiling goofily._

_Tenten dropped her fork and stared at him. I turned around and there he was… my tall blond hero with the contagious smile._

"How could you mix up the Konoha Café with the Hungry Cat Café?" Uzuki asked raising a brow.

"Hahaha," he laughs while scratching the back of his head. "You see… I just heard 'café' and… uhhh went there?" he smiles nervously. Kami, his smile should be illegal.

"Heh, can't say I don't blame you! Why're you standing still? Sit down silly!" Uzuki laughed as he took his seat between me and Uzuki.

"Thanks for picking me to join your team, Uzu-sensei," he says after bowing respectively. "So… You two don't talk too much do you?" he said looking at Tenten and myself. Tenten was still staring at him and I shook my head.

"It's crazy! Normally, they won't shut up! I guess they just don't like you," Uzuki said matter-of-factly. He looked as though he was shocked then became very sad. Oh geez, why does Uzuki have to say things she doesn't mean!?

I look at Tenten and she looked like she desperately wanted to say something but was a loss for words. "Higure-san, there's something that you should know since you're in our team now and it's this: Don't believe a word Uzuki-sensei says when we're not training or on a mission," I say glaring daggers at her while flicking an ice cube at her only to have her catch it and throw it back at me. Niveus chuckled a bit while nodding. "Anyways, my name's Yamanaka Ino and the chick next to me is Tenten, Tenten's a bit shy."

"It's a pleasure to meet you two, but… I can't allow you to be shy, Ten-chan. After all! We ARE teammates now," he said while smiling ever so charmingly to Tenten. "I hope you don't mind me calling you that."

"I'm not shy!!" she said frowning then smiles as she looks at Niveus, "It's nice to meet you too Higure-san, and I don't mind being called 'Ten-chan.'"

"Oh please call me Niveus!" he turns to the rest of us, "all of you, it would be awkward for me to be the only one still being addressed by my last name." I smile nicely at him as I nod in agreement.

After we got the introductions out of the way, and when Tenten finally got over the shock of the hotness that was the bishounen that was our new teammate, we got to know each other a bit. Apparently, he's supposed to be his clan's equivalent of Neji, but he's more of a laid-back prince than a robot. I don't know how I didn't know about him until now!

**Shinobi Training Center 1:18 pm**

Since it was pretty early Uzuki-sensei asked if we wanted to start our first training session, well she didn't really ask since she forced us follow her here anyways. As soon as we got here we found out that she had already booked us a space for a team of 4 a week in advanced! Geez! Just how smart IS Uzuki? Ok, well, maybe it's not that she's smart, but that she really knows how to plan her shit.

I grumble loudly, yes, it was raining out and she makes us train in this stupid INDOOR place! If it wasn't raining, I'd be happy because I hate the sun, but still! Oh well, I guess I shouldn't be picky anymore… I'm not Uzuki's only student… NO! that's not a tear! I- I just got something in my eye is all… Oh shush up!

The training center always knocked me off my feet. When you first walk in, it just looks like a huge white room with a window up by the roof. The room was about as big as a football field and the height was about 2 stories tall. I know you must be thinking that this wouldn't make much of a training space, but… when someone went into the room and pressed a couple of buttons, to work on combat in, let's say the forest, the walls and floors would literally grow trees. (think of the battle simulator in X-men).

"Ok, I know you all talked about what you're good at and what your blood limit is, but talking's not really the same as actually DOING now is it? Now I've already made up a list of team combo's, here's a copy," she said handing us each a scroll. I looked at them and they we basically flawless! Amazing!

Wait… didn't she just find out that Tenten was going to join us? I freeze for a second. Does that mean Uzuki-sensei already KNEW Tenten as going to say yes? There's no way she could have done all this in the time I wasn't with her. I mean, I've practically been glued to the girl for 6 days! And we only met tenten a week ago! D-does that mean Uzuki knew that we would make a good team even though we've never met? I mean, tenten said herself that she never met Uzuki until that day in the park!

"These are amazing, aren't they I-chan?" Niveus said putting a hand on my shoulder while smiling lazily. There was something in his beautiful soft gray-green eyes that said he was worried about me. I guess he could read me like a book as well.

"Huh? Um, yeah! They really are…" I reply smiling back at him.

"Alright, reading time's over, people! I hope you memorized the first one because you're going to practice it on Ayumu here," she ordered a moment later, Ayumu, he used to be on her anbu team, popped up next to her. She then wished us luck as she disappeared and reappeared into the room with the glass window. "Your test starts now, my little chickadees!" her voice rang through the intercom and trees popped up all around us.

Niveus had a blood-limit called Kyattsugan, that allowed him to be completely silent and unable to be sensed by chakra. He also had a doujutsu that allowed him to immobilize someone if they looked into his eyes while his blood limit was up so that was the first part of the plan.

As Tenten and I immediately hid in the trees, Niveus activated his Kyattsugan. That had to be the coolest doujutsu I have ever seen. When Kyattsugan was activated his pupils became cat-like and his eye color changed to a brilliant golden color. So back to the "fight."

The plan was a simple, yet effective, ambush attack. In a nut-shell, Uzuki distracts enemy(but just to make it harder on us Uzuki wasn't here), Niveus traps the enemy, Tenten provides cover if needed. When trapped I use Shinranshin and I do whatever needs to be done, then I leave the body just before Tenten's weapons hit him. But since this was a training session and we don't want to hurt an ally, we end it at Shinranshin.

"That was beautiful! Just beautiful!" I heard Uzuki say happily as the trees disappear, and she appears next to us.

"Hahaha, thanks Uzu-sensei!" Niveus said laughing lightly as he stretches his arms.

"Ino, Niveus. You two can leave. I have something to teach Tenten that only she can do," Uzuki ordered while winking at us. I laughed and stretched. "Well!? Off with you two! I'll contact you again when I need you!" she said pushing us out and into the lobby.

"Geesh you don't have to be so mean about it!" I shouted back at her. She laughs lightly as she slams the door on our faces.

"Hahaha, Uzu-sensei must have really wanted to train her!" Niveus said smiling down at me happily. I guess he was acting so formal when we first met because he was nervous. He's a whole lot cuter now though.

I couldn't help but laugh a bit, "She probably just did that so she wouldn't forget what she wanted to teach Tenten."

"She does that?" he asked innocently tilting his head to the side, his soft blue-gray eyes seemed to have gotten bigger. Wait…. Didn't he have green eyes? oO;;

"Oh yeah! All the time! You don't know how many 'super cool' jutsu I didn't learn because she forgot!" I said then laughed causing him to laugh too. "Geez! I'm starved! Wanna grab a bite to eat?"

"Sure! You in the mood for ramen? I know a really good place!" he said sounding very excited. Now how could I turn him down when he's that excited? I nod my head and his face brightens even more, "Great! It's this way!" he said leading the way. I follow quietly but he stops as soon as he see's it's raining.

"Ah! Did you bring an umbrella?" he asks sounding as if he's worried about me.

I shake my head, "Nope, I hate using them. I really like how the rain feels… I normally just walk around in it to calm me down," This is the first time I've ever said that to someone up front before… I wonder how he'll react.

He looks at me strangely then smiles brightly. "That's crazy…!" oh great, now he thinks I'm nuts! "I thought I was the only one who did that! I wonder why we never met before," he says happily then continues walking. Wait... he does it too?!

"Yeah! That IS weird… you know what's also weird?" he looks at me, "Your eyes! I thought they were green!" I stated pointing at them.

"Huh? Oh! They change every time I use Kyattsugan. Sometimes they're blue sometimes they're green, sometimes they're both!" he laughs while stretching his arms over his head.

**Noodles(ramen restaurant) 4:02 pm**

The walk here was fun! Niveus is so interesting to talk to! He's really polite and he always seemed to be smiling. I think he was still smiling when we were training! Gawd you think that his cheeks would hurt after a while…

"Hey Niveus, you know what you remind me of?" I asked while we were led to our table. He gave me a happy look that asked 'what?' "You remind me of a… puppy dog!" I continued as we made it to our table. I was about to take the chair out but Niveus does it for me. I look at him strangely but accept it and sit down.

"Woof woof!" he barked as he pushed me in and sat. "If you're not her it's going to sound weird, but if you are than it'd make perfect sense!"

"What're you talkin-"

"Shhhh, lemme finish! " I chuckle as I let him continue. "Were you that girl I saved from that guy last night? I was waiting for the right time to ask…" he said poking his index fingers together.

"That was me! Geez that was bothering me all day too! As thanks, the meal's on me!" I said smiling happily.

"Awww, thanks I-chan!" he replied blushing a bit as he looked at the menu.

After the waitress took our orders, Niveus and I played 20 questions and we became closer I suppose. Turns out that there's a reason why he's so polite, he took etiquette classes when he was younger and it stuck to him like glue. He also came from a loving family that supported him in just about everything he did. It's no wonder he's so happy all the time!

The guy acts like he doesn't have a care in the world, but… there are times when he seems so sad… When he thinks no one's looking, his happy smile changes to something heartbreaking. I wonder what happened…

Although Niveus has got to be hotter than the burning sun, I don't feel attracted to him in that way. It's kind of strange but thinking about getting together with him gives me the willies! I don't even know why!

We finished our food and Niveus and I decided that it'd be fun if we took a walk around Konoha before we went home.

"Do you have any siblings, Niveus?" I asked trying to make small talk.

"Nope, I'm the only one… anyways! did you talk to him after?"

"Talk to who?" I asked confused at his strange question. What in the world is going on in that boy's mind?

"Your boyfriend! Did you talk to him after you both calmed down?" Niveus replied while smiling slightly.

"H-Huh?! I don't have a boyfriend!"

"But I thought that that guy was your boyfriend… You like him don't you?" he asked smiling slyly. I felt all the blood rush up to my cheeks as I turned bright red. "I knew it! So did you talk to him?"

"Uh… no…" I answered drinking looking up at the rain clouds. He was being waaay too excited about this.

"You don't have to tell me why, but… you should talk to him soon," he said looking down, his bangs covering his eyes. Even though he was smiling, Niveus looked utterly and completely miserable. "I really think he can make you happy! The guy really cares for ya, ya know? AND! If you don't talk to him! You two would just stay angry at one another and never end up going out!" he said happily again.

"You talk as if that happened to you…" I say sounding concerned about him. What could have happened to make him so sad? Could someone have really broken his heart?

The happy glint in his eyes fade as he brushes a hand through his wet hair. He smiled at me sadly. "It has…" he said looking up into the rain.

"Her name was Naito Mei… look," he said taking out a small frame and handing it to me. It was a picture of what looked like a porcelain doll sitting on a chair. She had long flowing black hair and white flawless skin. She had the smallest of smiles and her eyes were full of what seemed like love. She looked so happy!

"She's beautiful!" I said happily.

"Yeah, she is… I took that one of her a half a year ago," he says proudly. He looks like he really loves her… "This one was taken 2 months ago," he said then flipped the fame over gently to show another picture of her. I couldn't help but gasp, she looked like a different person! She was still in her sitting position but her pitch black eyes… they looked empty. She looked just like a doll now… absolutely lifeless.

"Heh, yeah… that seems to have the same effect on everyone," he said after I gasped.

"Wh-what happened?!" I practically yelled. "I-I mean… if you don't mind me asking…" I said nicely.

"We got into an argument kind of like the one you had with your boyfriend. Only… no one stopped me. I… I scared her away… In the end… she probably never knew about my true feelings for her…" he said sounding as if he was going to cry, but that smile of his never left him.

"C'mon Niveus! Go talk to her now! Try again! I know she'll listen to you this time! And if she doesn't then… I'll talk to her! Yeah! All she needs is to hear it from another girl! I'll make her fall in love with you all over again!" I said trying to cheer him up. I felt as though it was my responsibility to!

"That sounds great, I-chan. I think Mei would have listened to you… but…" his voice lowered into a whisper as his smile looked more forlorn than it ever did. I look into his eyes and see a deeper sadness than there ever was. I immediately regret saying what I did as he says: "Mei's gone, I-chan."

I saw him look away and close his eyes. I couldn't help myself… I brought my hands up to my face and I started to cry. I couldn't stop myself. "hey now… don't cry!" he said playfully.

I couldn't say anything… why was he taking this so lightly? Why was I so sad about this? I just met him and I never met Mei before in my life! This is so strange… I suddenly feel Niveus encircle his arms around me in a loose hug. I don't move, I just grab onto his shirt and cry. After a while, I look up to find Niveus looking down at me happily. The glint was back in his eyes and his normal smile was back on his face. He pushed me away a bit, but kept one of his hands on my shoulders.

"You feel better?" he talked to me softly. I nodded. "You going to talk to him?" he said wiping the rainwater and tears off my cheeks. He brushed the hair off my face as I smiled slightly and nodded again. "That's my girl," he said kissing my forehead.

His kiss kind of reminded me of what my father used to do whenever I finished crying. And like my father, I felt nothing but love towards him, but it wasn't the same love as I felt towards Shikamaru. It was… hmmm… I guess this is what it's like to have a big brother…

I felt someone's presence and turned away to look at who it was, "Sh-Shikamaru?!" he wasn't looking at me at all. I traced his eyes and saw him staring at Niveus. I looked back between the two nervously.

"What're you doing with _him_?" he spat the word out like poison.

"No need to be so hostile, um… Shikamaru, right? I'm just cheering my teammate up, seems my story really got to her," Niveus said patting my head gently while smiling calmly. "No harm in that now is there?" Shikamaru just turns his head and looks away from him with his annoyed face. "Oh where are my manners? I'm Niveus, Higure Niveus, I-chan has told me a lot about you, Shikapon," he said already giving him a nick-name.

"'Shikapon?'" he asked raising his brow. Niveus was smiling happily at him and I could tell Shikamaru had to stop himself from smiling back.

"You don't like it? How about… Shikaru, Shikabun, Shikapu, Shikapin, Shikari, Shikaku, Shikama, Shikarun, Shikashi, Shikano, Shikaka, Shikashu…" he already made a list?! Niveus then stops his train of thought and smiles down crazily at him, "I GOT IT! I'll call you Maruru!!!"

I burst out into laughter. "Yes! I think I like Maruru best," I said while wiping my tears of hilarity away.

Shikamaru looked at me with horror in his eyes, "NO! Just call me Shikaru…" I laughed happily, I kind of feel relieved that Shikamaru doesn't seem to hate Niveus. It seems impossible to hate the guy… He's like a puppy, you may not be a dog person, but you can't help but love a puppy!

Shikamaru stared him down some more and Niveus just stared at him happily, that went on for about a minute than Shikamaru looked away, "How troublesome… Ino, your mom's worried about you, she told me to take you home."

"Huh? Why's she so worried?" I asked raising an eyebrow.

He simply shrugs then finally looked at me, was that worry I saw in his eyes? "…You _are_ ok, right?"

"Yeah? Why wouldn't I be?" I asked confused. He looked me up and down and sighed out of… relief?! What's gotten into him? As he turned to walk towards his house I see that he was wearing his indoor slippers. What the hell? He didn't have an umbrella either! Looks as though he just ran out of the house…

"I'll let you two be on your way. It was nice meeting you Shikaru," Niveus said smiling that charming smile of his. "You better have a nice long talk with him," he whispered in my ear causing me to giggle as I nod.

**Walking to Nara household 7:33 pm (just thought I'd tell you the time)**

Talking to him is way easier said than done! Shikamaru and I walked in silence after Niveus left. I wonder what he was thinking…? I glanced at him and frowned. He's not walking too far ahead of me but far enough that I can't see his face. I sighed as I followed Shikamaru on auto-pilot, not really looking at anything at all. I just need to think…

I wonder how much he saw of me and Niveus… If he saw him kiss me than why didn't he say anything? Maybe he didn't say anything because he didn't care.

"_I've always cared! If I didn't, I wouldn't be here!"_

I suddenly remembered. I shake my head a bit. If he really cared he would have punched Niveus, or… or at least have said something to me! Then it hit me… He only cares of me like a friend… I bet he would have done something if Temari was in my place. I could feel my eyes start to water again. Stop it, Ino! You've cried too much already!

It was strange… I feel like I'm falling. Hmmm… maybe that's because I am! I guess I tripped over something and now I'm going down. Aw crap, I hate myself for blanking out. It was too late for me to save myself so I shut my eyes and got ready for impact. But the only impact I got was one that was warm and comforting. I opened my eyes to see that Shikamaru had caught me.

"You ok?" he asked looking very indifferent though. I nodded slowly and he helped me back onto my feet. He was avoiding eye contact with me… now why would he do that?! I frown at his back since he continued walking.

"Shikamaru!" my mouth said. What the hell am I doing!? I freeze when Shikamaru stops. Why won't he look at me? "I… I'm sorry Shika-kun…" I say quietly, I my eyes pool again and I really had struggle to hold back my tears. "for everything I did… it's all my fault… I know I really messed up but… why… Why won't you look at me?"

TBC.

**AN: **yes yes i know, this chap was kinda pointless yet kind of not... i already have the next chapter ready but i'm not going to post it until i get my reviews. so review if you want to know what happens next!


	7. Chapter 7

**Rain**

Chapter 7

**AN:** I have a super special limited time offer! That's right folks! What is it?! Well I'll tell you! It's a one chapter POV change later on in the story! Read on to see who's it is! (coughs) just thought I should tell you so you wouldn't get confused… ON WITH THE STORY!

"_Shikamaru!" my mouth said. What the hell am I doing!? I freeze when Shikamaru stops. Why won't he look at me? "I… I'm sorry Shika-kun…" I say quietly, my eyes pool again and I really had struggle to hold back my tears. "for everything I did… it's all my fault… I know I really messed up but… why… Why won't you look at me?"_

The silence between us was killing me. The rain seemed to have gotten stronger and the wind had picked up. This has got to be the coldest rain I've ever been in. I stared at his back for what seemed like an eternity. Please… just turn around…

"We should get home now, Ino," he finally replied with his back still turned to me. As he took a step forward I felt something change in me. I no longer felt sad… I no longer felt the cold of the wind, and, more importantly… I no longer felt any love from him. I felt completely numb and I don't think I could even feel the rain anymore.

"Yeah… let's just go," I said sounding bitter. I wasn't mad. I wasn't anything… I just… wanted to go "home." As I said that he turned to me, he finally looked at me, but… I didn't see it because I had already passed him as I sped up my pace to the house.

I don't like not being able to feel the rain… How am I going to be able to clear my head now? How will I ever feel refreshed?! If I can't feel the rain… how will I ever feel at peace again?! It was driving me crazy! I could see the rain falling, I could hear it as it splashed onto the ground! But… why am I not able to feel it?!

I have to try… My speed walking turned into a jog, then my jog turned into a run and then I was sprinting at full speed. I don't know where I'm going but it doesn't matter. As long as I could feel the rain again nothing mattered.

**Nara House 8:02 pm (POV change)**

Now where is that girl? I've been waiting here for God only knows how long and I'm getting bored. It wouldn't be so bad if what Ino-chan said wasn't true, but… her family really does tell lame stories.

"I'm home," Shikamaru said walking in quietly and shutting the door behind him. He looks normal, but there's something in his eyes that I just don't like… I don't know what's going on, but I know I don't like it.

"You're soaked! Where's Ino!? Why'd you come back without her?! Uzuki said that she was hurt badly during training! Don't you walk away from me! Get back here Shikamaru!" Yoshino yelled. Geesh, when she's mad she sure is mad. Watching this makes me never want to have kids.

"Now now Yoshino-san, Ino wasn't hurt that badly during training. She's a strong girl, but it IS odd that she isn't back yet…" I say watching Shikamaru walk away from his mother. As he walked past me, I took the opportunity to read this kid… At first glance, he looked hurt… but… no, it wasn't that… he looked like he was beating himself up about something. I kept a straight face although I had to resist the urge to grab the boy and turn him around. What did he do to Ino?!

"May I talk to Shikamaru? Ino-chan has told me so much about him, but I've never met him before," I said smiling happily as Shikamaru disappeared into the hall. Yoshino looked confused but nodded her head and told me where Shikamaru's room was. I was going to get to the bottom of this.

Ino-chan had grown on me and I feel like she's my little sister. I always thought that the strongest team is one that feels like family. Tenten and Niveus also gave me the vibe that triggered my sisterly protection thus making me want to add them into my team. And because of this stupid sisterly vibe, I can't help but worry about my 'siblings.'

I knocked on the door quietly and waited. Almost instantly he opened it and stared at me with an annoyed look on his face. I smile nicely at him and ask, "Can I come in?"

He raises a brow at me but steps aside. I walk in and he closes the door, "You lied about Ino, she's fine," he said bitterly as he sat on his bed.

"Little white lie, deer. But you _did_ see her! So what was the reason why you didn't bring her back?" I asked sitting on his desk chair. He looked away from me and I gasped. "Was she with someone?" his eyes darted back to me and I smiled slightly. "Who was she with?"

"Enough questions, Uzuki. What do you want? You know who she was with, and you know what happened," he barked at me. I was shocked. I knew he was smart but I didn't know that he already figured out my plan!

"So you saw her and Niveus together, what's wrong with that? They're teammates now my dear deer. And what I want to know… is what YOU did to her!" I demanded. We were getting no where fast and I don't like him thinking he knows what I'm up to. He looks away and I grabbed his chin to make him look at me. "What. Did. You. Do?"

"I didn't look at her," he said moving his head to the left causing my hand to slip off. He was telling the truth… but what the hell is that supposed to mean?! I could tell that's all he was going to tell me so I'm through with him.

"Now that wasn't so hard now was it!?" I smile down at him happily. Since I got what I wanted there was no point in me being here still. I walked towards the door and stopped when I heard him speak:

"I'm not going to be a pawn in your game."

I grin evilly and look at him, "Why not? I'm giving you a second chance to be happy… besides… you don't have a choice, Shika dearest." I wink at him as I walk out of his room and into the hall, the adults looking at me.

"It's getting late… I should get going," I say closing the door on Shikamaru. "Can you please call me when Ino-chan comes back?" I asked Inoichi innocently.

"Sure. Have a safe walk home Uzuki," he replied. I gave him a small smile and said my good byes to the rest of them.

**Somewhere in Konoha 11:26 pm**

I found Ino the moment I walked out of the Nara's house but my curiosity overwhelmed my worry for me to actually do something. Ino was sprinting around Konoha. It was… odd. There was no set path and there didn't seem to be any particular reason why she was going so fast. Forget cats and dogs it was raining elephants and whales and she's been doing this for 3 hours straight… I have to stop this, her body's going to give in soon.

I jumped off where I was watching her and stopped her by grabbing her arm. "What're you doing, you crazy lady?" I asked making myself sound amused. She just seemed to have stopped moving, but I waited until she decided to answer me.

"Uzuki-sensei… Let go," she said emotionlessly. I stood my ground and waited again. She knew I wasn't going to leave until she answered my question. She then started thrashing about while screaming at me to let her go. I didn't know that simply stopping her would make her so mad! She was going crazy on me!

"STOP IT INO!" I yelled at her as I turn her to face me then smack her cheek. She instantly stopped moving, and I couldn't help but gasp. Ino's eyes… they were so cold. So blank! I tried reading her but there was nothing. How could I get nothing!?

"What's going on Ino?" I asked more concerned than anything else. Hell I WAS concerned. How could Shikamaru not wanting to look at her cause her to become like this!?

She then looked at me in the eyes and I was finally able to read something. She was hopelessly depressed and that… that she was scared?! "Uzuki-sensei… I.. I can't feel the rain…" she mumbled as her body gave way to exhaustion and collapsed. I caught her before she hit the ground.

I couldn't help but be scared for her. How could she not feel the rain? I'm surprised that it didn't beat holes into my umbrella it was so hard. I checked her pulse and it was beating fine but she was so cold.

**(next day) Uzuki's House 5:26 pm**

I couldn't take her to the hospital. The med nins would call her parents and then Shikamaru would know. Having them worry wasn't apart of my plans so I phoned her parents to tell her that she's sleeping over and stayed with her. I wasn't an idiot, I knew that all she needed was rest so that's what I let her do.

As she lay on my bed I didn't get a wink of sleep. I had to figure out what's wrong with her… I talked to the anbu that saw the conversation, or lack there of, that passed between Ino and Shikamaru. It was simple if you think about it. Ino was seeking support and Shikamaru simply refused to give it to her. She must have seen his "support" as love and since he didn't give it to her she must have convinced herself that he didn't love her. Which, in turn, caused her to break down.

What really confuses me is why she's not able to feel the rain. Could she have connected the rain to Shikamaru some-how? That's the only explanation that I could think of. I wonder… if he DID look at her when she asked, would they be living happily ever after now?

It's amazing how clueless Shikamaru is about girls. He's fully capable of doing things that would make a girl happy, but he keeps on second guessing himself. The fact that he doesn't know Ino's feelings towards him is also holding him back from doing what he wants when other people's around in fear that she would just embarrass him or visa versa. For such a smart guy, he's really easy to figure out.

Niveus came over earlier this morning and told me his version of the story. I told him what her symptoms are and, here's the weird part… it's just like what happened with his girl, Mai or something like that... Well just the becoming completely emotionless part, but that's besides the point…

Ahem, now onto a more serious note. After hearing what Niveus did, it makes me wonder what would have happened if Shikamaru had reacted to another guy kissing his girl, even if it was just on the forehead… Ahhh! It all makes perfect sense to me now! The reason why he didn't do anything was because Ino ISN'T his girl! Sure he may like her, but he respects her enough to let her do what she wants. It's kind of sweet actually.

AH-ha! I bet the reason why Shikamaru was avoiding eye contact with her was because he would do something out of the jealously that he actually felt. Or he would do something that would put his feelings out in the open… So it turns out the guy's scared of being turned down again… not that I blame him or anything.

Coming to this conclusion, I will have to put my plan on hold… I have cheer up Ino and tell her to tell the guy how she feels about him before I can do anything else. So now all I have to do is wait for sleeping beauty to realize that prince charming isn't coming and that she needs to get the hell up.

I tapped my index finger on my desk as I stared at Ino impatiently. This sucks. I'm sleepy and I'm bored… I then feel someone walk into my house, but he feels familiar so I choose not to react. The person then knocks on my door politely.

I close my eyes and focus on this new guy. "Come on in Niveus," I say while opening my eyes again. He seemed to have trouble with the door knob then stumbles in holding his stomach with his right hand while his left was completely limp. I raised a brow, "What happened to you?"

"Hehehe… well…" Niveus said leaning on the doorway while smiling goofily at me. "Nejiri(neji) happened to me."

I looked at him confused. Before he left my house this morning I told him to hang out with Tenten… I stared in his light gray eyes then sighed. "Do you have to kiss all your teammates?" I couldn't help but chuckle at the look that he gave me.

"It's a force of habit! My family kisses all the time!" he said in his defense. He was telling the truth but that doesn't mean that I can't have fun with him.

"Sure sure sure, whatever helps you sleep at night," I said shaking my head as I get up and slide the chair to him. "So what did Neji do to you? I want to hear all the juicy details."

He sat down while laughing happily, he then makes himself look serious, well as serious as one can be with a smile on your face. "Have you no shame? Even I haven't gotten to kiss her yet!" he said in a deeper voice, "and then he gentle fisted me! I can't even move my left arm anymore!" he said normally while swinging his body making his left arm swing around him like a rag doll.

"Ten-chan stopped Nejiri right before he got to my head and then she yelled: 'What're you doing Nejiri?!'" he said making his voice higher. He put back on his serious face, "'I'm trying to protect you from this pervert!' then I said 'hey! That's not very nice!' but they ignored me… 'He's my teammate! He was just trying to cheer me up!' she said, then Nejiri got reeeally quiet," then he made a face that made him look uptight. "Tense silence."

"Oooh and then what happened?" I asked with amusement clearly written all over my face. I love listening to him tell stories. He really liked acting them out!

He got really happy, I swear if he had a tail it'd be wagging right now. "And! And then!" he changed from being excited to a strange happy-sad-serious look. It's kind of cute how he's always smiling, "'So you really did leave the team.' then! Ten-chan looks away, 'It's not like you can't find a replacement.' and I was thinking OH! How mean! Then! And then!! Then!!!" he said getting excited again.

"OOOH what what what?!" this was really fun! I would love it if all my little birdies gave me a report like this!

"Then, Nejiri said: 'No, there's no one who can replace you.'"

"Awwww!!!!" I couldn't help but say.

"Ah! I didn't even get to the best part! Ten-chan blushed and then said: 'd-don't be silly.' and she looked like she was going to say something after that but Nejiri cut her off!" he said lifting his left hand and pointing upward that made it look like he was making a point.

"Hey! You can move your left arm again! But how rude of him!" I pointed out happily then said like I was disappointed.

He looked at his arm and and smiled crazily at it, then shook his head violently, "Nope! Not rude."

"Not rude? Why not?" it was like I was talking to a cute little three year old! Gawd I just want to hug him!

"Not rude beCAUSE… then! Nejiri… kissed her! Then said that he would miss her lots and lots. I was feeling a bit uncomfortable around that time so I left! And then I let myself in Uzu-sensei's house and told her the story!" he said nodding his head proudly.

"That's such a great story! I especially liked the part that I'm in," I say clapping. I stop suddenly and look at him sternly causing him to make his smile ten times cuter then before. "You really should get to a hospital though."

"Hehehe, I was, but your house is on the way… yeah I'll go now," he said then walked out of the door while waving to me. A second later he popped his head back in, "When I-chan wakes up tell her I say.. Hi!"

I chuckle quietly by myself, he is such a strange kid… I'm going to have to call in the anbu patrolling that area to see what happened after Niveus left but I can already guess. Oh to be young again... Not that I'm old mind you.

Argh, Neji may not know how to act around girls but at least he knows what to do when he sees someone kiss his. Now if only Shikamaru wasn't so nice, if he wasn't I'm sure Ino wouldn't be sleeping here, but in his bed... Oh that's dirty! I chuckled a bit then I felt my stomach grumble so I got up and went into the kitchen to fix me up something to eat.

Ino has been sleeping for about 18 hours… and judging by how badly she exhausted herself, she should be up… any second now! I made a simple cereal and walked back into my room to see Ino sitting up on her bed looking out the window sadly.

"Uzuki-sensei…" she says turning to look at me. Her eyes were just as blank as they were the day before. I sigh and set my bowl onto the desk and bring a chair next to her bed. "Why can't I-"

"Look Ino, I'm your teacher not your mother, but there's something that a the two have in common. We're supposed to help you choose the right path or some other bull like that. And that's what I'm going to do. So close your pessimistic little downer mouth and listen to me," I said cutting her off. She looked at me with that same empty stare, basically telling me that she didn't give a rat's ass. I sigh, but continue regardless.

"Geez, I thought you were stronger than this Ino… If I knew that you would run away from your problems like this I wouldn't have asked you to be apart of my team," I say staring her right in the eyes. "I'm disappointed in you."

"I'm not run-"

"Oh? You think so? You're a shell of your former self! Look at you! Sitting there brooding about how you can't feel the bloody freaking rain! It's pathetic Ino!" I say attempting to bring out the old Ino. There's two possible ways this can go. Either I'm so mean to her that she just gives up and stays like this forever… or that she snaps out of this and decides to fight back.

"You don't under-"

"You're right, I don't understand. You are obliviously in love with a guy, but you automatically run away with your tail between his legs because you THINK he doesn't like you? How CAN I understand you?! You fight for what or who you love! It's not like there's anything stopping you! Geez, you're not only weak you're a coward."

"I know when I'm not wanted."

"The old you would have done everything you could to MAKE him want you! You've changed… and not in a good way," she looked at me blankly. "Since when did you give up so easily, anyway? If I remember correctly… An Uchiha Sasuke seemed to hate you but you kept on trying. Heck, you went as far as turning against your best friend because of him!"

She looked at me angrily, her fiery spirit back. Ahhh… I truly am a genius. "Sasuke was different! Ok?!"

"How so? You told me yourself that you thought you loved him once-"

"I THOGUHT I loved him. God damnit Uzuki-sensei! He's not like Shikamaru! What I feel towards him is real!"

"HA! You loved Sasuke enough to fight for him! When you had a single doubt of Shika's love, you ran! It seems to me that you loved this Uchiha more," I said looking at my nails indifferently.

She throws the pillow across the room and yells angrily. "I love Shikamaru a million times more than I did Sasuke!" she yelled turning red from anger.

"Hahaha, apparently that's not enough to fight for him! I bet you haven't even told him how you feel yet!" I say laughing crazily. This is way more fun than I expected!

"I…!" she started to say then quieted causing me to laugh even louder. "Oh be quiet! I'm going to the Nara house and tell him right now then! In front of the whole family if I have to!"

"Hahaha! I'm SO sure, Ino dear," I say sounding very doubtful. Dance my little puppet dance! Muhahaha!! She's wrapped around my finger so tightly I could almost see it turn blue.

"I AM! I'll tell him the moment I see him! And! If I don't do it today, then… kick me off your team!" Yes!!! Mission accomplished. Phase one of my plan complete.

I stop laughing and look at her seriously. "I'm going to hold you up to that offer, my dear sweet little oinker! You don't have to tell him the moment you see him though… that's just weird," I say patting her head then getting up and walking to my bowl again. That went a lot smoother than I thought. Oh Ino dear is so predictable!

I looked at her and couldn't help but chuckle at the look she was stuck in. She didn't move and her cheeks had the slightest tint of red on them. She was sitting upright with the classic look of horror scribbled all over her face. I thought about how she was beating herself up inside. 'What in the hell did I just do?!' or: 'Uzuki-sensei would kick me off too… crap.'

"Well what are you doing here still? Go tell the boy how you feel!" I say flicking a piece of granola from my cereal at her. She glared at me then opened her mouth to say something. "Nah-ah-ah! No take backs! You either tell him today or you're out of my team."

"Gawd damnit Uzuki-sensei… I hate you so much right now…" she said clenching her teeth and fists.

"Ahhh, you say that now! Just remember to invite me to your wedding!" I say watching her get out of the bed and put on her sandals.

"Oh shut it!" she yelled angrily and slammed the door. I don't think she's noticed that I gave her an old anbu outfit of mine… I'll give her about a minute before she realizes it.

**One minute later…**

"Uzuki-sensei… what am I wearing?" she said opening the door slowly.

"Ah! I thought you would look great in it! And you do! You can thank me later!" I say nonchalantly.

"Just give me my clothes," she grumbles. She's so cute when she's mad.

"Is this the thanks I get for taking care of you?! How rude!" I replied dramatically. Her eye twitches and I throw a rubber hammer at her and laugh, "I washed your clothes for you. They're in the dryer, dearest."

She mumbles a thank you then closes the door again. Ahhh… I feel so accomplished today! Tenten and Neji are finally going out… and Ino's going to tell Shikamara how she feels about him… I could feel my eyes tear up… It's times like this that makes being a teacher worth while! Excuse me while I cry softly…

Alright, I've had enough of that. Time for me to get some sleep. You, on the other hand, go and review or I'll make you run so many laps around Konoha, you'll cry.

TBC.

AN: welp! you heard uzuki! please review! anyways, i have no idea as to what to write for the next chapter so help is greatly needed! any suggestion would be great!


	8. Chapter 8

**Rain**

Chapter 8

**AN:** I feel like I've been making a lot of short chapters lately so I decided to make a long one. I'm sick and I've been writing this at like 12 to 6 in the morning so don't get mad if some of the stuff seems kind of pointless. I'm kind of sad not as many people reviewed but everyone should thank Nicole for getting me over my writers block! Thanks again chika! I owe ya one! ON WITH THE STORY!

(back in Ino POV just so ya know)

What in the world have I got myself into this time? How does Uzuki-sensei expect me to tell him that I like him NOW?! I mean, we didn't exactly leave on good terms and I'm SURE he's got a crush on that sand chick… I sigh as I kick a trash can over as I walked past it.

"I HATE TODAY!!!" I yelled for the sake of yelling. The rain storm was dying, the gray clouds changed to white puffy ones that the sun was peaking out of. It was drizzling lightly but… I STILL can't feel it. I run my hands through my hair and almost felt like pulling it out. It's not like it's raining much but, WHY CAN'T I FEEL IT?!

"THIS SUUUUUUUCKS!!" I yelled at nothing again. At least my frustrations are going away slowly. I could hear dogs barking in the distance… crap… I forgot I was in a residential area… I haven't felt this frustrated in… never! I clenched my fists into a ball and punched the thing nearest to me.

"OW!" I heard someone grunt. I gasped a bit when I realized that I punched someone and not something. I looked at who I hit and couldn't help but smile. "I-chan! You're awake!!! I thought you'd never get up!" Niveus said getting over his punch and hugs me.

I laugh and pat his back, he's so cute. Wait… what did he mean by that? I push him away a little and got a look at him. His arm was bandaged up… what happened? I was going to say something but… "I-chan! Didya hear? Ten-chan and Nejiri are going out now," he said looking down at me with a twinkle in his eyes.

I was at a loss for words, "wh-what?!" I finally managed to scream happily.

"Yeah, but don't tell her I told you. She wanted to tell you herself," he said winking at me. I giggled a bit while nodding. He smiled at me differently as he pat my head… it looked like how older brothers smile to younger siblings. I never thought I'd ever be a recipient to one of those… It sure is strange how Uzuki picks people to join her team that reminds me of family…

"Hey, you hungry? I know a really good yakitori stand, my treat," he said in a convincing manner.

"I really shouldn't…" he looked at me with puppy dog eyes. Now how could I say no to that face? I guess telling Shikamaru will have to wait… "Oh fine, but I can't stay long."

His face brightens as his smile changed to his charming one again. "Why're you in such a rush anyway?" he asked putting his right arm around my shoulder casually. It didn't feel like he had a secret meaning to it. It felt as though this is something he does naturally.

"I-chan?" he looks down at me worriedly since I didn't answer his question.

My face turned a couple of shades redder in embarrassment and I laughed nervously, how am I going to explain this? Might as well just say the truth. "uhhhmmm… Uzuki-sensei tricked me into doing something today," I say looking everywhere but up at him.

He laughed a little. "Uzu-sensei sure likes to mess with people. What happens if you don't do whatever you have to do today?" he asked innocently.

"hahaha, oh that doesn't matter silly!" I say hitting his chest playfully.

He laughs a bit and we walked in a comfortable silence as we continued on our way to the yakitori shop. I just met him and it seems like we're so close already. I didn't notice this before, but there's people out and about now. The rain had passed so I don't see why they wouldn't be… I sighed as I started people watching. People were looking at us… I wonder why. I overheard an elderly couple remark at how cute a couple he and I made. I inwardly got chills and felt disgusted. I wanted to yell at them that he was my brother, but… he isn't and that'd be lying and lying is bad folks.

Well, I have to admit, we did kind of look like a couple. I mean, guys don't normally go around walking with a girl with his arm around her shoulder and not look like they're a couple. I had to wonder why he did this, and then I saw it. A sleazy looking guy was looking at me in a less than innocent manner and Niveus gave him a look that said "not with my little sister, buddy." Which was strange since he was still smiling. I had to contain my laughter when I saw the guys reaction. So he's doing this to protect me?

Like Uzuki, Niveus was a good distraction to keep my mind off of depressing matters. Whenever I seemed down he'd poke me or say something completely random so we'd talk about it. He never asked questions. It was like he was thinking that I'd tell him when I was ready and he'd wait patently. He's a good big brother, even if he acts like he's 5 sometimes.

Just because I'm with him doesn't mean that I should forget what Uzuki'll do to me if I don't confess… How am I going to say it without it being too awkward…? I sigh and look towards the ground to think. I mean… what's going to happen after I DO tell him? What would I do if he says he doesn't feel that way towards me again? I don't want to ruin our friendship…

"I would like to go fishing and catch a fish stick, that would be convenient," Niveus said like it was the punch line to a joke. Thing was… he wasn't talking before that. He's so strange.

"What?!" I asked confused as to where that came from. He never answered my question though. He just kept laughing and laughing. He was chortling so hard I just had to giggle right along with him.

**Stix (yakitori place) 6:42 pm**

We walked into the restaurant and was seated. After bickering about how chicken and beef had totally different tastes for a while, we ordered our food then argued about how smoked and baked foods have different tastes as well. I swear this guy's got some weird taste buds…

"So… Didya get to talk to Shikaru after I left?" he asked then stuffed his face with another stick full of meat. He went though about 30 of them already and I just finished my 3rd!

"Um…" I say sliding a piece of chicken off the stick and eating it, "ay trifed."

He stopped eating momentarily and looked at me, if he had ears they'd be popped up in full listening mode right now. "You tried? What happened?" he asked tilting his head to the side a bit. His violet-gray eyes looked at me with confusion. I chuckled at the look after swallowing my food.

"Well… it just… hmmm, it's hard to explain," I paused looking for the right words to describe the conversation I had with Shikamaru. It wasn't a normal conversation, but it wasn't an argument.

"You didn't argue again did you?" he asked concerned again.

I chuckled a bit then found the right words. "No, it wasn't that… I wouldn't mind if we argued though." he looked at me with a raised brow, I chuckled. "It's kind of hard to talk to someone when they won't talk to you."

"Ohhh, I thought he was a quiet guy," he said shrugging his shoulders. I sighed again and put the rest of my food down. He gasped sharply as if he was scared for dear life and I looked up to see what was wrong. He smiled at me crazily then looked at something behind me with a greeting-like smile on his face.

"Huh?" I asked as I looked behind me to see no one… it didn't even feel like anyone was there in the first place so I don't know why I looked. I turn back around and find that the rest of my chicken was gone. "You know you could have asked for them," I say stretching my arms above my head.

He looked like a chipmunk he had so much food in his mouth. Surprisingly, he managed to swallow it all then smiled at me happily. "Doing it this way was a lot more fun though, I fooled ya good," he said triumphantly. While nodding his head.

"Yeah yeah, good for you niisan," I said unenthusiastically. Although I'm not mad at him for taking my food, I'm mad at myself for letting him trick me. Damn... I have to get him back.

He dropped his chopsticks and looked at me with wide eyes, "What did you just call me?" Did I do something wrong…? I look up to see that he had surprise and uhhh hope in his eyes? What's that all about?

"'Niisan?'" I asked pointing at my chin as I looked up trying to remember correctly.

"I-chan…" he said becoming very tense. Uhhh I hope I didn't make him uncomfortable. "You make me so happy!" he exclaimed happily. Before I could let out a sigh of relief, he launched himself at me into a tackle like hug while kissing the top of my head. I had to hold in my laughter, he's like a dog that just found out I adopted him!

**Walking to the Nara house 7:21 pm**

After we left the restaurant, he insisted he walked me to the house. I sighed as we walked pretty slowly. People were giving us strange looks and it was getting pretty embarrassing. Ever since I called him my brother, he wouldn't let go of me. He walked behind me rubbing his cheek against mine with his arms hugging my shoulders. If this were an anime, he'd have more hearts popping out of him than a card factory near valentines day.

"Are you ever going to let go of me?" I asked awkwardly since he was still rubbing my cheek. I know he's happy but, it's starting to hurt…

"Nope! I love you too much right now, and it's unhealthy for humans to keep intense emotions in," he said matter-of-factly. He stopped his nudging and decided to hum a happy song. He is so much like a dog, it's almost scary.

"You're so weird…" I mumbled while sighing. I never should have opened my mouth.

"Hey, I-chan. You should be thanking me. I'm protecting you by scaring all of the guys who would want to do things that I'm not going to allow!"

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"It mean's, I'm being a good big brother!" he said hugging me more. I didn't think it was possible… he was even more happier than before. "And I like to embarrass you!"

I laugh sarcastically as I hit him with a rubber hammer. He laughs it off and we continue on our same slow pace to the Nara house. This is going to take a while…

**Nara House 8:21 pm**

The whole walk there, Niveus simply refused to let me go. I felt like I had a monkey on my back the whole time! Well… a talking monkey… that told funny stories… and yelled at random guys about his little sister. Pfft… ahem! But that's beside the point! Anyways, we walked up to the Nara house and I rang the door bell. I knew they were home because I could hear them laughing about something inside.

"You going to get off me you little monkey?" I asked eyeing him strangely.

"I'm a monkey now?" he pouted, "I like being a doggy better…"

I couldn't help but laugh as I pat his head, "Whosh a gud boy? That's right, joo are! Yes joo are! Awww I wuvm's my wittle pup dawg, " I said in full 'cute mode'.

Niveus' face brightened instantly as he started barking, "Awwww. I love you too I-chan!" he exclaimed as he rubs my cheek with his again.

"You coming in or not?" I heard someone say at the door curtly. Oh no… what's Shikamaru doing here?! Ok.. Well he lives here, but why'd HE have to answer the door?! Of all people… I look in his eyes and he looked… hurt?! No! he must have gotten the wrong idea! I wanted to say something to make this situation better, but…

"INO! WHO IS THAT BOY?! AND WHY'S HE ALL OVER YOU?!" father yelled practically pushing Shikamaru out of the way to examine Niveus. He was always protective of me.

"Oooooh, what a handsome young man… is he your boyfriend?" Mom said teasingly. I glared at my mom and opened my mouth to reply back but:

"Wow! I-chan looks just like you. Sooo… I'm guessing you're I-chan's parents…? I'm Higure Niveus, I-chan's new teammate. I'm delighted to meet you," Niveus said happily as he let me go to bow respectfully to my father. I swear I'm going to kill someone if they cut me off again.

I could almost see my father's aura change from a burning rage to a mixture of confusion and delight to meet someone as handsome as Niveus. My mother blushed slightly, she probably thought that his voice was just as charming as his smile… Damn, pretty people really DO have it easier.

"Yeah… I'm Yamanaka Inoichi, this is my wife Yamanaka Eiko(I don't know her real name)," daddy replied bowing slightly in respect my mother doing the same.

There was an awkward silence, my father seemed to be examining my dog while my mother was swooning over it and Niveus just smiled happily at them. Ohhh kaaay… so my father wasn't going to hurt Niveus… I saw that daddy was looking at him in a way that said 'I don't mind my daughter going out with this guy…' and my mother in a way that said 'if only I was 30 years younger…' I got chills again. I have to stop them before they asks Niveus personal questions.

"AH! _Niisan_ was just walking me home, but he has to go now, right?" I said putting emphasis on 'niisan' then look at Niveus for some help.

Father looked confused, "Niisan?"

"Yeah, I-chan's like a little sister to me," he said while pinching my cheek playfully, not the kind of help that I wanted but that's fine I guess. My mother looked disappointed and I punched him for pinching me. Niveus laughed and said, "I really do need to leave though. It was nice meeting you." and he was gone in a poof of ninja smoke.

"New teammate huh?" mother said smiling warmly at me. Daddy turned back around and walked towards Shikaku after sighing in relief.

"Yeah, and we have another girl named Tenten too," I say scratching my forehead. I told my parents what happened in my ninja career since I haven't seen them. I felt kind of strange being in my shinobi outfit, so I changed out of it and into some casual clothes.

"Where'd Shikamaru go?" I asked since I haven't seen him after he opened the door. He kind of just disappeared after my father pushed him out of the way… it was really quite strange…

My mother shrugged while giving me a knowing look. I raised a brow at her and she smiled at me in a very motherly fashion then turned to Yoshino to whisper something in her ear. I watched as the two giggled and the Nara mother pointed in the direction of Shika's room while giving me a wink. I didn't wanna question it out of fear that she would say something embarrassing in front of my father causing him to freak out on Shikamaru. There's no way in hell that Shika's going to find out I like him through my father giving him 'the talk.'

I sighed as I walked towards Shikamaru's room. I'm not sure whether or not I should try to make up some sort of plan or something. Shikamaru always surprises me in the end. I mean… I don't even know how I would tell him… Why was it so much easier to tell everyone that I liked Sasuke? I mean, how come Shikamaru's so much harder to open up to? I could make any guy Uzuki-sensei picked out to fall for me, but why's it so hard to 'turn on the charm' when I'm with Shikamaru? This should be second nature to me!

I stop in front of Shikamaru's door and stare at the knob. Would Uzuki laugh at me if I told her that I'm feeling nervous? I wonder what Tenten would do… Maybe I should have told Niveus what Uzuki's making me do… He would have helped me through this… right?!

'Just go already! I didn't train you to be a wimp!' is something that Uzuki would probably yell then push me through the door.

'Hmmm… I guess I would just go with it, ya know? I'm just thankful that Uzuki-sensei didn't do that to me. I would probably think up a plan but in the last second for get it!' thinking like Tenten didn't really help me out at all…

'Hahaha! Uzu-sensei's mean, but she has a point. I mean, you probably wouldn't've told him if she didn't force you to. Ah, don't worry about it I-chan! Everything'll turn out great! But if it doesn't, tell me so big bro can beat him up. NO ONE HURTS MY LIL SIS AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!!!' I couldn't help but chuckle quietly. Niveus would say something like that too…

Welp! There's one thing that they all kind of had in common and that was just do it already! I must look like a total idiot just staring at the door like this… Not that anyone's looking at me, but still! Well, I'm going to have to get this over with some time… I take a deep breath and knock.

There was a rustling sound of paper on the other side of the door then I heard a chair be pushed back and lazy steps towards the door. My heart started pounding and my brain turned to mush when I saw the door knob turn. OMG OMG OMG! I inwardly slap myself, get a hold of yourself Ino! This is no time for you to be freaking out!

Shikamaru opened the door then looked away. "Can I come in?" I asked smiling happily at him. Yeah, that's it. Play it cool Ino. Don't let it show that you're a nervous wreck right now.

He raised a brow, but stepped aside. I smile gratefully at him and walk in. He closes the door behind me, then sits back onto his desk. "Um, did I catch you at a bad time?" I asked as I watched him work.

"I'm almost done," he replied writing something down. I nod quietly and stand around. I was just standing there so I decided to look around. Surprisingly, his room was very neat and organized… For a lazy guy he sure keeps a nice room. I bet Yoshino's the one who makes him keep it like this though. I saw him put his pen down and straighten a pile of papers.

"Argh, paper work sucks. Is that for the chuunin exams?" I asked trying to make this less uncomfortable.

He seemed to have ignored my question as he puts the pile to the side. "You and Higure are close," he states full of spite. Don't get angry, Ino. Don't lose your cool. You have to tell him what you feel about him, not get mad.

"Yeah, he's like a brother to me!" I say happily. Shikamaru turns around in his desk chair to look at me. I don't think I've ever seen his eyes that cold before.

"Like a brother?" Shikamaru says sounding just as spiteful as before, "You sure he knows that?"

Don't get mad… (twitch) don't get ma- "HEY! Niveus is a good friend and teammate and he doesn't like me like that alright?!" damn. My mouth betrayed my will again and my body followed right along with it. My hands were in tight balls at my sides and I could feel a vein almost pop out of my head.

"Heh, you sound disappointed," he scoffed.

"I'm not! I feel the same way about him as I do Chouji! Both of them are like my brothers!" I yell angrily as I throw a rubber hammer at Shikamaru's head. I guess I never realized this before, but Chouji and I always DID have a type of sibling-like bond. I remember arguing with him the day Shikamaru fought against Temari in the chuunin exams about who knows him better. I wonder why I had to be angry to realize this.

"So all of your teammates are like your brothers," he states catching the hammer then looking away. I stare at him and he looked just as hurt as he did when he saw Niveus and I together. My anger died down as my will finally took control of my mouth and body. I take a deep breath to calm myself down and look away.

"No… not all of them… you… you're different," I say quietly. By using my peripheral vision, I saw Shikamaru turn to look at me. I blush slightly, this is probably the only chance I can get to tell him, but… why can't I force myself to look at him?

"I'm just a friend, right?" he shakes his head as he says that ruefully.

"N-no! You're-"

"It's alright, Ino. I'm not much of a brother and I know it," he says forcing his voice to sound playful. I finally look up at him but my vision was blurred because my eyes started to water in frustration.

"No you idiot! Why do you always have to be like this?!" I yell as I try to stop my tears. I fail miserably and I try to wipe them away angrily. Why do I have to cry at a time like this? It seems that my efforts in wiping the salty droplets away only made my crying worse causing me to feel even more frustrated.

"Don't cry Ino, I don't feel bad," he says as he wraps his arms around me. I could hear in his voice that he was still forcing himself to sound happy.

"No! I don't want you to be my brother or my friend!" I say pushing him away as my tears streamed down my face. He stumbled back and looked at me confused. I shut my eyes tightly as I yelled, "Geez, you're so dense! Everyone else could see it, why can't you? I love you, you idiot! GAWD! Why do you have to be so frustrating?!"

There I said it… but why do I feel so angry?! GAWD I need to get out of here. So that's just what I did. As if I didn't care what his reply would be, I stormed out of the room and out of the house. I need to calm down…

**Somewhere in Konoha 10:21 pm**

"Stupid temper… stupid Shikamaru…" I cursed under my breath as I glared at anything I could. My tears have stopped a long time ago, but I still felt like killing something. DAMNIT! HE DIDN'T EVEN FOLLOW ME!

"Hey, you alone? How about you keep me and my friends company?" a creepy guy said as he held onto my arm. I glared at him and his three other friends.

"No," I said threateningly as I snatched my hand away and continued on my way.

"That's funny, because I think you are," he said forcefully shoving me against the wall.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "You picked the right chick tonight, buddy. I'm in a pretty shitty mood, but you all look like the guys that can make me feel all better," I say while smirking. The guys looked like they just 'scored a good one' and I form some hand seals quickly. "Seishin hyoukai no Jutsu!" I say, my eyes glow for a second and the guy falls onto the ground. It was a jutsu that Uzuki taught me that made whoever looked into my eyes fall into a state of painful unconsciousness. The rest of the boys look at me like I'm a monster and I smirk at them evilly.

"Sh-shit! She's a ninja!" one of them said as he stumbled away from me.

"It's 3 on one! We can take her!" another said heroically. I roll my eyes as I laugh evilly.

"Oh you are so wrong," I say from behind him. He was going to try to throw a punch but I caught it and threw him into the one that didn't talk. I formed some hand seals, "Magen Narakumi no Jutsu!" I watch as the genjutsu surrounds the scared one and he screams as he falls onto the floor. The other two came at me with knifes and pathetic stances. I sighed while rolling my eyes, Kami they're slow. I easily dodge the first one and kick him in the no no place lazily, causing him to go on his knees crying. As the other one came at me I grabbed the hand with his knife and picked him up over my body, then slamming him head first into the ground.

"Ahhh… now that felt good," I say contently as I dust off my skirt. I sigh happily as I continue on my way while humming an up beat song.

I heard someone clap behind me so I turn around to see who it is… crap. "Nice job, the show was great," she said while smirking.

I smirked right back at her while I kicked one of the 4 because I could, "Glad you liked it, first show's free, next one you're gunna have to pay," I joked.

She chuckled a bit then looked at me more closely. "You're Shikamaru's friend right? The one at that barbeque shop… Yamanaka… Ino?" she asked trying to remember.

"Yeah, can't believe you remembered. So what brings you here, Temari? It's getting late…" I asked sounding friendly. Why's she being so nice to me?! Why am I being so friendly back at her?! Gah! I don't understand!

"It's for the chuunin exam… I need some paperwork from Shikamaru, but I can't find him," she replied looking kind of annoyed.

I laughed slightly. "I'm guessing he does this a lot?" I asked only to receive a groan from her.

"This is his 5th time! And it's going to be the same excuse too, 'I thought I had to turn it in tomorrow.' He was supposed to give them to Tsunade yesterday," she whined rolling her eyes. I laughed because I thought it was funny and she laughed with me. WAIT! What am I doing?! Laughing with the enemy! If Uzuki knew she would hit me!

"You're good friends with him, right? You know where he lives?" she asked me after the funny died down. THAT'S WHY SHE'S BEING SO NICE TO ME!!! She's using me to get to my man! Oh this is easy, all I have to do is say 'we're close, but not that close. Sorry!' and be very apologetic. Yeah…

"Oh yeah, my family and I are staying there for a bit. I'm going to head back there now, you're welcome to come with," I say smiling nicely. Damnit damnit damnit! I hate my mouth! Why oh why won't you listen to me?!

**Nara house… again 11:49 pm**

The walk to the house again was… well… it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. It seemed to me that Temari didn't feel anything towards Shikamaru, but a slight bit of annoyance. It's kind of like, if Shikamaru had an older sister, she'd act like Temari.

Turns out, she's going out with some guy in Suna! Which is great, but that still doesn't mean that Shikamaru likes me by default… Temari even apologized for stepping in on Shika and my date. Although it wasn't really a date… Gawd, everyone always thinks we're going out… someday I guess… hopefully… T.T;

I knocked on the door while listening to a story about her reminiscing the time when Gaara was a cute little boy with a teddy bear. But now that he's the Kazekage, she doesn't know how to see him anymore.

"First a blonde boy now a blonde girl? You sure are popular Ino-chan!" Shikaku joked. I gave him a look and explains her situation to him. "Oh, Shikamaru went out a while after you did Ino-chan. Haven't seen him since, come to think of it," he said while rubbing his beard. I heard Temari groan and look more annoyed.

"Ah! I saw him working on something earlier! I'll go get it!" I exclaim happily as I head for his room. I go straight to his desk and pick up the pile that said something about the chuunin exams on it and give them to Temari.

"This is it! Thanks, Yamanaka," she said gratefully as she turns to walk back to the hokage's office… or Suna… whatever, they're both in the same direction!

I sigh and stretch a bit while yawning. I borrowed the phone, and walked into the guest room they set up for me. I feel as though I haven't seen or talked to Tenten in a while and HAD to see if what Niveus said was true so I decide to call her. I listen to the ringing patiently as I lounge on the bed. (warning: very girly conversation ahead)

"_Hello? Tenten speaking."_

"Tenten! It's Ino! What's up?" I asked happily as I play with a strand of hair.

"_Ino! Guess what happened to me today!" _she said after making a very girly squeal.

I giggle slightly and reply, "Hmmm… Neji saw Niveus kiss your forehead and he freaked out on him?"

"_Huh? How'd you know? Did Niveus tell you?" _she asked sounding confused.

I laughed, "I got it right?! Is THAT why Niveus is all bandaged up?!"

"_Um yeah, ANYWAYS! To make a long story short, Neji and I are going out!" _she said happily.

"KYAAAAA!!!" I squealed happily. I don't think I've had this girly a conversation with anyone besides Sakura.

"_So when are you and Shikamaru going to get together? I want to go on double dates," _she said sounding like she was eating something on the other end.

"Um yeah… Uzuki-sensei made me tell him that I'm in love with him today…" I mumbled. I had to put the phone a foot away from my ear as I heard her do an equally girly scream as mine. "I actually kind of yelled it at him though. He got me so mad before I said it and after I did I stormed out of the room. And, to answer your question, no, he didn't give me an answer yet," I say before she asked.

"_Awww. Why not? Aren't you at his house? Go get it now," _she said being very forceful.

"I would, but I don't know where he is, even his parents don't know!" I say while yawning.

"_Oh you and your excuses," _she says doubtfully then pauses, _"Ah! It's Neji! Let's hang out tomorrow! I'll call you later bye!" _she said quickly than hung up.

I sigh as I look at the phone. What am I going to do now…? I roll onto my back and stare at the ceiling. I regret not staying around to hear Shikamaru's reply… if I did I bet I wouldn't be so anxious now. Ah! I'm so excited about what he's going to do, my heart's beating fast just thinking about it! I roll onto my stomach and scream into the pillow to let out some steam. I look to my side and see Shikamaru's chuunin vest laying on top of my ninja clothes and pouches.

I sigh, welp… thinking about this isn't going to make me feel any better, if anything, it'll make me worse. I yawn again as I get up and turn off the lights. Maybe if I sleep on it, I'll feel better in the morning… yeah…

**Ino's room 3:16 am**

_Cuuuu-rash!_

My eyes flew open… is that… could that maybe be…? I rushed to look out the window and saw the rain fall in sheets and a lightning strike. I was so happy I couldn't talk! I just made a bunch of weird sounds that maybe sounded like I was happy. I jumped out of my bed and picked up a jacket and a pouch of weapons, just in case, as I run out of the house and into the lovely rain.

I stopped as I reached the porch, would I be able to feel it? I sure hope so… Welp, there's no other way for me to find out than to go into it, so that's just what I did. I took a step forward and…

"YEEEES!!!!" I yell happily as thunder rumbled to cover my yell. My theraputic rain… I can feel it again!!! I don't care that I'm in my PJ's! IT'S RAINING!!! I could have sworn that the rain passed! I felt as happy as Niveus looked when I called him my brother.

I was so excited that I had no idea as to where to go next that I just stood there, as if frozen in place. I was looking down and the rain made my bangs fall across my face. I wish someone else was here… I probably look like some strange ghost!

Geez… I'm so happy, I'm thinking like a kid again. A strong wind came and I glared at the house. Why do you block the rain? I sighed… where should I go that doesn't block the wonderful tears from the sky? The flower shop is too far from here so that's out… AH-HA! The barn! It's on top of a hill and there's not too many trees around it. Perfect!

I run towards the barn and jump on top of it. Ahhh… this place is perfect. Dare I say it? I think I will, it's better than the flower shop! I go to the highest point of the barn roof and lay down. I looked up and could barely make out the rain clouds in the nights sky. These clouds are waaaay cooler than white puffy ones.

"It's pretty dark out. I wonder what time it is," I say to myself quietly as I close my eyes to better soak in the rain. I think about it very briefly then sigh contently. It doesn't matter. Nothing really bothers me while it's raining. I stretch while yawning, it does seem pretty late…

**Nara Barn 3:56 am**

_BOOM!!! Crackel!! SHA SHA SHA!_

"AH!" I exclaim getting up. I yawn and rub my eyes… I must have fallen asleep on the roof. Wait… I'm not ON the roof! I look around, I'm in the barn? I heard something snap and I jumped slightly, but calmed down. There was a nice fire going…

"hmm.. Well this is nice…" I mumble as I snuggle into the warm blankets. WARM BLANKETS?! Where'd this come from?! I look at myself to find that I'm completely dry… that's odd. And what's just as strange is… I feel like I've seen these blankets before…

My eyes widen. These were on Shikamaru's bed! I look around the barn again to see if said person was around and froze. Why's he just sitting there? He sat on the other side of the fire. His back was leaning on a near-by wall, his arms were crossed over his chest and his head was bent forward while his legs were spread out in front of him. Was he sleeping?

Welp! There's no use asking questions if you're not going to get an answer! I sit up Indian style and bring the covers closer to me. I take a deep breath… it smells like Shikamaru… I stare at the fire while feeling a bit at peace at the moment. I never knew that listening to the rain fall and fire crack would be so soothing to me.

_Sniff. Cough. Cough…_ Crap, don't tell me I'm sick! As I thought that, I fell into a little coughing fit. Damn, looks like I am. I never really slept in the rain before. Note to self, don't EVER fall asleep in the rain… ever.

Shikamaru moved a bit and I cover my mouth to shush my coughing up. My fit died down and he was still again… Damn, I don't want to wake him, but was he really sleeping? I choose to investigate and I crawl over to him with all the blankets still wrapped around me.

I had to get really close to him to see if he was sleeping or not. As I dip my head under his to look at his face I sighed a bit. His eyes were closed and his breathing was steady… so he was asleep. I frown slightly and narrow my eyes. He doesn't look too comfortable.

There was about 3 thick covers around me, so I voted on giving him one. I don't want him catching a cold too! I struggled a bit to untangle myself from the long pieces of cloth and they proved to be a very noble adversary as I had more trouble untangling another one from the rest. I hope I wasn't making to much noise… I managed to free one and opened it up.

"I hope this'll keep you warm," I mumble as I sit next to him. I started tucking him in, legs first while humming a calming tune. I worked my way up to his abdomen and stopped.

Now how am I going to do this so his back won't get too cold… I think then shrug it off as I lean over opposite of me to put a corner around his shoulder. I suddenly feel something warm around my waist that made me fall onto his lap. I squeak a bit out of surprise then glare at whoever did it, only to be met with Shikamaru's half-lidded sleepy eyes.

I sat sideways on his lap with his arm supporting my back. I frown slightly as he ripped the blanket I ever so caringly wrapped him in off. "This is supposed to keep you warm, not me," he said in a low, almost seductive voice. I was going to yell at him, but he stopped me.

It happened so quickly I didn't know how to respond. His free hand lifted my chin up ever so slightly and I felt warmth on my lips as he leaned down to kiss me softly. My eyes widened in shock and I couldn't move. "Thanks though," he said leaning his forehead on mine as his eyes closed again. What just happened?!

**TBC.**

**AN:** (coughs) man, it sucks to be sick. i don't know how thunder sounds so forgive me. i live in southern cali where we have no seasons and have like a day of rain and it's the end of the world. T.T;; sorry for making people a bit OOC.

_Uzuki:_ how about saying sorry for not putting CERTAIN characters in. (cough)me(cough)

_Autumn:_ Oh hush, you had a whole chapter dedicated to you! The only person who should be mad is Tenten! She wasn't even in the last chapter and she was barely in this one!

_Tenten:_ Yeah! What's up with that Autumn?!

_Niveus:_ hey, don't be mad at tum-chan! She's doing a great job :D

_Uzuki:_ (smacks Niveus upside the head) you say that because you're in it a lot!

_Autumn:_ Ahhh!! Leave me alone! (runs and hides)

anyways, review if you want to know what happens next sooner. Remember, reviews keep my spirits high and I'm eager to please so suggestions are great. There should be a lot of fluffiness and maybe some citrus if I feel like it. REVIEW NOW or I'll never update! (coughs) damn, being sick sucks. (goes back to sleep)

_Uzuki:_ tell her to put more of me in it!

_Autumn:_ (takes Uzuki's mouth and throws her into a closet) shhh, don't influence the readers…

_Ino:_ REVIEW! I wanna know what happens next! This suuuuuuucks!!! (bangs head against the wall)


	9. Chapter 9

**Rain**

Chapter 9

**AN:** please don't hate me! I'm so sorry for taking a while on this chap. A very _long_ while. I had this done a while back but my comp freaked out on me. I had to take it in to be repaired and when I _finally_ got it back I had to rewrite everything! I couldn't even go on the internet! AH! Now I know what hell feels like... welp, enough of my ranting, ON with the story!

_I sat sideways on Shikamaru's lap with his arm supporting my back. I frown slightly as he ripped the blanket I ever so caringly wrapped him in off. "This is supposed to keep you warm, not me," he said in a low, almost seductive voice. I was going to yell at him, but he stopped me._

_It happened so quickly I didn't know how to respond. His free hand lifted my chin up ever so slightly and I felt warmth on my lips as he leaned down to kiss me softly. My eyes widened in shock and I couldn't move. "Thanks though," he said leaning his forehead on mine as his eyes closed again. What just happened?!_

I was frozen in place… di-did Shikamaru just… (gulps) kiss me?! I SHOULD be feeling intense happiness… right? But why am I not? Because Shikamaru… looks like he's sleeping! His eyes were closed and his breathing was steady.

My eye twitched, "Are you... sleeping?" I asked quietly annoyed. I glare at his sleeping face then sigh, "Why'd you kiss me anyway?" I asked pushing him slightly so his head would get off my forehead.

I close my eyes and try to get off of but he had an iron lock grip on my waist. I heard him stir a bit and I swear he mumbled, "Because…" my eyes widened… did he just answer me? I smirked slightly, either he's awake or he talks in his sleep.

Hmmm… what to ask first? "Why do you hate Niveus-niisan?" I asked since it was the only thing that popped into my head. Hehehe, I know this is bad, but you'd do it too if you were in my place.

Now it's time to wait… I stared at him intently and I saw his lips move. Crap.. I can't hear, so I lean in and listen. "… he's ok… he keeps on flirting with my girl though…"

I would have giggled but this is more fun. "What do you mean by 'you're girl?'" I say in a huff as I cough a bit. No reply came, but I think he sighed. Awww, I guess I can't mess with him when he's sleeping I mean, I don't want to risk waking the guy.

Hmmm… what else…? I shift my eyes downward and ask quietly, "…Do you love me?" Again, there was no reply. Maybe he's done answering my questions. I sigh sadly then I feel him move me closer to him. My head was resting on his chest comfortably again and I relaxed. He seemed to have sighed contentedly and I felt him rest his chin on the top of my head.

Although I'm extremely comfortable, I'm still a bit cold. "How do you feel towards Temari?" I mumbled as I fixed the blankets to cover us better. I wasn't expecting an answer, but I might as well try, right?

He moved slightly and surprisingly I got even more comfortable than before. "I feel… like I forgot to give her paper work…" he said quietly into my ear then drifted back to sleep.

Argh… I give up. I should just ask him when he's awake. That way, I could be mad at him again. If I keep this up, I'll be too comfortable to do much of anything at all. I closed my eyes as I listened to his steady heartbeat and take a deep breath of him. He's so relaxing…

"There's nothing to be jealous about… I don't cuddle with just any girl, " I heard him mumbled quietly. I open my eyes again and I look up at him, his eyes were open slightly and I again felt his lips over mine.

This one was different though… this kiss had more… passion I suppose that's what this is called. I let out a slight moan as he left my lips and trailed kisses down to the crook of my neck. I leaned my head to the side to give him better access and he seemed to have taken it gladly. He nipped and sucked at that spot for what seemed too short a time as it sent almost electric waves down my entire body.

I suddenly felt his hands travel up under the front of my shirt and I froze in a state of panic. He sure moves fast... I blushed slightly and he stopped his actions. Should I be happy or sad about this? He kissed me again as his hands came out from under my shirt to hug me close to him. "Sorry…" he mumbled drowsily.

Was he really sleeping?! I would be mad at him, but… when has he been so relaxing to me? I breath his scent in while I snuggle up to him. He is WAY more comfortable than any pillow, that's for sure.

**Morning 9:45 am**

I wake up to the sound of birds chirping happily outside my window. I open my eyes slowly and instantly regret doing so. The sun was shining brightly on my face and I bring the covers up close as I snuggle into my pillow. Wait… I opened my eyes again to look around. I was sitting in a nice warm bed in the guest room that the Nara's set up for me. I thought I was supposed to be in the barn… and what happened to the rain storm?

"Oh don't tell me that was a dream!" I groaned as the realization hit me and I threw myself onto the pillow to scream loudly into it. Well… it _was_ too good to be true. I lay on my side as I hug one of the many pillows on the bed. I touch my lips lightly as I remember his kisses. They felt so real…

I hear a slight knock on the door and groan. I don't wanna talk to anyone right now. I hear the knock again and I feel a very questionable rage build inside me as I glare at the door and throw a pillow at it. Why didn't the person just say what they wanted at the door then leave me alone? I sandwiched my head with the pillow and tried to sleep again, I wasn't tired or anything, I just felt lazy I suppose.

"And I thought I slept a lot," I heard Shikamaru yawn behind me after the sound of the door opening.

I frown and throw a pillow at him. "Oh be quiet, I couldn't sleep last night. What do you want anyways?" I asked sounding angrier than I really felt. I looked at him and he seemed more annoyed than usual, but… not. Man shoot, I should ask Uzuki-sensei how to read people better. This guy's giving off mixed emotions.

"Let's finish our game," he ordered more than asked. Now how can I, as a stubborn girl, reject his ever so eloquently put offer? I roll my eyes and I was about to blow up on him, but… Shikamaru's always full of surprises. In a quick fluid motion he picked me off from my bed bridal style, blankets and all, and jumped out of the window to sprint off to his destination.

The old me would have struggled all the way there(where ever there is) and not enjoy herself. I mean, how could one not have fun being carried while running at a surprisingly fast speed and not have fun? The only other times I get carried this quickly to anywhere is because I'm being rushed to the hospital… I would have sighed if I wasn't laughing right now.

**Nara Forest 10:01 am**

My little ride over here wasn't too long and when we stopped I looked at him with a raised brow. He walked quietly to a spot and set me gently on a log. I pealed my eyes off him to look at the scenery and gasped. We sat on top of a hill that overlooked an almost bright green field that the deer were grazing in. I don't normally like sunny days, but this day had to be the prettiest I've ever seen it. The sky was a bright blue and the clouds floated by in big white puffs. It was simply breathtaking.

"Where… are we?" I asked as I soaked in the beauty of it all. Shikamaru sat next to me lazily looking off somewhere as well.

"This is where my family watch the deer, we can see everything here," he replied quietly.

"Wow… it's beautiful…" I said dreamily. I heard him mumble something in agreement and we sat in a relaxed silence after that. The birds were singing happy melodies and it seemed like everything was at peace. Wait… I can't have anything peaceful. In the words of my sensei, 'PeacefulBoring so mess everything up into a fun chaos! Muhahahaha!!!'

I look down and pick up a pebble and throw it at Shikamaru, why? Because I can Gawd damnit! He looks at me confused and I smirk evilly at him which causes him to look at me fearfully.

I get up and look down on him creepily. "That was for waking me up via kidnaping me," I purposely laugh in a sinister manner as I lift up my hand. I move it quickly and he flinched ever so slightly. I place my hand behind his neck and pull him into a hug.

"Thanks for bringing me here though," I say sincerely as my other hand wraps itself around him engulfing the covers around us. He relaxed when he realized that I wasn't planning on hitting him any time soon and sighed a troublesome word or two.

He returned the hug with one arm and rubbed my back soothingly. I held onto him contentedly, reveling in the fact that he didn't push me away instantly. It was after many minutes I realized that his head was in my breast. I blushed slightly while letting him go.

"Welp! Are we going to finish our game or not?!" I say enthusiastically, so it'd chase my blush away. He looked at me, eyes filled with amusement as he gets up and sits at his side of the shogi board. I didn't notice this before, but the shogi board has been here all along. I smiled happily as I walked in front of him while holding my covers around me.

The board was set up exactly how we left it. It's amazing that he remembered everything. I'm not going to doubt him and think that he changed anything to make it easier for him to win because I know Shikamaru's got more class than that… hopefully.

I looked at him with a challenging grin and he smirked at me after moving a tile. "Ooooh. It's on now Maruru," I say mocking seriousness. He held in his urge to laugh so I laughed for the both of us to kill time to see which one he didn't want me to move. There it is! I got serious suddenly and moved the tile. He looked at me with the same shocked expression as the one he gave me about a week ago. (see chapter 3 for details)

After that we played quietly and quickly. There was no room for talking since Shikamaru's interest in playing was almost tangible. Again, I lost track of how long we were playing. As long as I could watch his analytical face, time didn't matter to me.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled as I was going to reach for a tile. I stop to look at him confused at how solemn he was. "About yesterday, I was a real ass," he continued while looking at me straight in the eye. I was confused for about a second longer, than blushed deeply and looked away. Yesterday… was the day I told him I loved him, for all of you who may have forgotten.

I laughed nervously while I brush my long hair behind my ear. "oh that? Don't worry about it! I was a bitch about it too ya know?" I smiled at him reassuringly while I move a piece. I saw him smirk and I grew confused as he moved his tile.

"Checkmate," he stated. I was shocked, I could have sworn I moved the one he didn't want me to… I look at the board and see that I moved the tile NEXT to the one that I was supposed to.

I was angry at him at first, but I must say… that was a really good trick. He really is a smart guy. I kinda admire his genius, but that doesn't mean I have to show it. "You sly bastard. Did you even mean your apology?" I asked releasing an angry aura.

He gave me a look that said, 'what ever do you mean Ino-chan? Of course I did!' and I laugh while shaking my head. Why, if I didn't know any better, I'd believe him.

"You've grown to be a wonderful actor Shika-kun," I say playfully as I hit his side lightly. His face went back to normal and suddenly fell into a coughing fit. Crap… I forgot I was sick.

He looked at me in an almost scared for my life way and asked, "Why didn't you tell me you were sick?"

I looked at him apologetically as I tried to stop myself from coughing. "Don't worry about it, I have a little cold is all," I say while massaging my itchy throat. He looked down so I decided to lighten the mood. "And it's not like you gave me a chance to, what with the kidnaping and all," I say looking at him accusingly I then cough fictitiously, "Oh, I think I may have gotten worse!"

My coughing stopped and before I had time to laugh Shikamaru's forehead was on mine. I looked at him with my eyes widened and a slight blush creeping onto my cheeks. "You may be right, you're burning up," he said opening his eyes, "and you're face is redder than before."

I narrowed my eyes. It's HIS fault… I tap his forehead with my fingers and blush a bit more. "Oh hush, I'll be fine," I say looking away from him in a failed attempt to hide my face.

"Ino," he called. I didn't look so he turned my head gently by taking my chin in his hand. A light breeze blew between us causing my hair to impede my vision. It was only now I realized that he was holding my hand tenderly.

"Shika-kun?" I asked looking at him confused. My heart started to pick up when he looked at me again. I had to struggle to remember to breath as he brought my hand to cup his cheek.

"You worry me too easily," he says quietly shutting his eyes. I stare at him as he seems to enjoy my hand on his face. I didn't mind It at all. My hand was cold and his cheek and hand was warm. I felt the corners of my mouth lift slightly, in a shy but genuine smile.

He opened his eyes suddenly, staring into mine as if to see if I was mad. "Sorry," he mumbled as he let my hand go like it was on fire.

The blood rushed to my face in a blush, I turn my head away. " 'S alright," I mumbled shyly looking back into his eyes. Since when has his eyes been so... intense? There was an awkward moment of silence that passed between us. I fidgeted with my covers to give me an excuse to look away from him.

"Ino," he stated. I looked up at him instantly and felt trapped in his gaze again. "I want to talk about last night."

I know I had to reply to him, but my tongue was stuck in my throat. I then found that I had no idea what to say back. I closed my eyes and simply nodded. This was a conversation that I both dreaded and wanted.

My heart started pounding in my chest again, but this time out of fear. What if he says what I have already knew? That he liked Temari. No... that wouldn't be too bad, that'd just mean I had to try harder.

There was something worse... What if he rejected my feelings all together and thought it was best that we stopped seeing each other. That he felt uncomfortable to be friends with someone who was so in love with him that I am.

What if he never talked to me again?

My heart skipped a beat. That was much worse than knowing that he liked Temari. I had to do everything I could to stop myself from shaking. Only now have I ever felt this scared in my life. I knew if I kept this up my fear would show on my face. So... Why isn't he talking?!

That's it, be angry. Anything's better than this overwhelming fear. I wish he'd just get this over with...

"I..." he started. I couldn't look at him anymore. I forced my gaze down like the coward that I am. I don't want to be able to read his rejection before he could put it to words. I heard him take a breath to continue. Oh great... this is it.. "Ino-chan, I think-"

"Shikamaru! So you _did_ bring Ino up here," I heard the big thundering voice of his father. I looked up to see him and I saw him raise a brow. "Did I interrupt something?"

Glancing at Shikamaru I saw a glimpse of rage in his father's direction then his face returned to normal. I smiled slightly and shook my head. "No, you're fine. Good morning Shikato-sama," I greeted seeing as Shikamaru wasn't going to reply to him.

Shikato let out one of his bellowing laughs. "A very late g'morning to you too, Ino," he said warmly. I couldn't help but smile at him as he kicked his son lightly. "I'll take over from here. You mom said lunch'll start soon, I'll watch the deer so you two could get ready."

I nod slightly and get up slowly. Suddenly my feet were off the ground and I was up against something very warm and soothing. Shikamaru picked me up and was now running silently to what I'm guessing is his house.

**Nara House 12:43 pm**

Shikamaru hasn't spoken a word to me about yesterday since he got interrupted by his father. I silently regretted his coming, but I also felt a wave of relief, knowing that he had to talk to me eventually.

I showered quickly and changed in some casual clothes. I was walking towards the living room, but stopped when I heard the familiar voice that belonged to my sensei.

"You know your time is limited," I heard her faintly. What does she mean by that?! Before I could properly freak out I heard another familiar voice.

"I don't need advice from you of all people," was Shikamaru's angry reply. I know that Uzuki can be annoying at times, but did she really make him that mad?

I heard her laugh quietly. "So this is how foolish you really are. It wasn't advice, simply a warning that you should take to heart," she replied in an almost evil authority tone. I heard Shikamaru scoff, and Uzuki laugh again. "You don't have long at all."

"Tell me something I don't know," he said full of spite. What am I doing eavesdropping on my sensei? I need to talk to her!

"Ok... you've already missed your chance," she replies as I walk into view. I saw one of her "delightfully" evil smiles before she turned it into a blissfully happy one. "Ino-chan! How are you?" she asked politely. I guess Tenten already told her that I told Shika...

"I'm alright... what're you doing here anyway?" I asked eyeing her suspiciously.

She smiles happily at me then says, "We have a meeting at 2 today, dearest. Do try not to be late."

"2... that should be enough time for me to eat and change into my ninja clothes," I thought out loud. I looked at shikamaru and saw him glare hard at Uzuki. What's that about?

"Welp! I'd better get go-"

"Uzuki? What a pleasant surprise," Yoshino cut my sensei off while walking out of the kitchen and into the livingroom. Uzuki flashes her delightfully evil smile to Shikamaru's before looking at Yoshino.

"Why yes it is!" she replied in a sing-song voice. "I had to tell Ino-chan about a meeting in an hour or so."

"Oh? Why don't you stay for lunch? I made too much."

"Well I don't want to impose..."

"Nonsense! I want you to stay."

"Ok... if you insist," Uzuki said bashfully looking away.

"Yes, I do. It'll be out in a little while. Shikamaru, go set the table," she ordered her son. I stared at him as he grumbled angrily and did as his mother told.

Lunch was... well.. interesting. Uzuki-sensei's got some pretty funny lunch stories, but she always seemed to smile creepy/happy to Shikamaru when no one else was looking. Shika was, well, being Shika. I don't know why but he seemed... well, different today. He was angry, but I couldn't understand why. Is it what Uzuki said earlier?

I look to my right to look at the clock, before I could see what the hands pointed to I heard a loud crash of a fork onto a plate. I look quickly to see what happened and saw my dad fuming in his seat.

"Dad?" I asked confused. Everyone at the table was silent and my dad wasn't looking at anyone, but his eyes were on me. I tried to see what he was looking at by I saw nothing that would make him have that kind of reaction...

"Ino... Who gave you that hickey?!" dad demanded loudly. I blushed cherry red. What the hell is he talking about? I was at a loss for words and I couldn't speak. "It was that Higure boy wasn't it?! I swear I'll kill him!" dad yelled over-reacting once again. He was half-way to the door when Uzuki stopped him.

"Ino-chan fell during training yesterday. I told you about this didn't I? Reason why I was so scared was because it was right on the pulse point. You're fine," Uzuki said calmly after examining my neck. She then turns to my father and glares hard at him. "Even if it was a hickey, I'm sure it wouldn't be from Niveus. _He's_ a good guy."

I didn't miss the too quick for most people glance she gave to Shikamaru. I stared at him and his eyes were a mix of anger, relief, and was that disappointment? I then looked to my father and see him calm down a bit.

"Welp Ino-chan, I think it's time to go, thanks so much for lunch it, was delicious," Uzuki says smiling happily. She then turns her violet gaze to me. Crap. She's so going to make me explain this. She waited for me outside as I quickly changed into my ninja clothes.

**On top of Hokage Mountain 1:56 pm**

Uzuki didn't say a word to me as we ran through Konoha's rooftops. The silence was killing me and I knew she knew that. Uzuki is truly an evil person. Tenten was already waiting for us when we got there.

"Hey guys, where's Niveus?" Tenten asked smiling at us happily.

"Oh he had to meet up with good friend. It'll be just us girls..." Uzuki answered looking at me with a strange smile.

Tenten raised a brow as she looked at me. "Is there something you need to tell us Ino?" she asked and I immediately knew what Uzuki's smile meant. Damnit. She wanted Tenten to know about it.

"Uhm, no?" I asked knowing that my sensei wasn't going to have me not tell her the juicy details. I heard said teacher cough slightly and pulled the collar of my shirt down. Tenten gasped then looked at me slyly.

"You wanna rephrase that, dearest?" Uzuki said sadistically. I blushed a deep red and looked away, "C'mon my little piggy, I didn't just save your ass for naught did I?"

Damn, she's so right. I fall into another coughing fit of mine and sniffle. Dragging it on long enough, I explained to them my, um... dream. Uzuki stared at me very stone faced and Tenten looked on, trying to understand.

"And when I woke up, I was in the room. So I figured it _must_ be a dream, right?" I said ending my story there. They don't need to know that Shikamaru then whisked me off with my blanket looking like a wedding dress.

"Well, if it _was_ a dream, then why do you have the hickey from it? Not to mention you're sick," Tenten said nibbling on a rice cracker. Kami she's right... but wait. Does that mean I was with Shikamaru last night then? That would explain why he was up before me... I think.

"It was storming last night. Not too much but it was enough to keep me up. I didn't sleep a wink last night," Uzuki said annoyed. She then yawned a bit and glared at the sky.

I became quiet as Tenten and Uzuki argued about what may have happened. Tuning them out, I thought to myself. Why would Shikamaru take me to my room? Well, it would be kind of hard to explain to our parents how we got to be there, together, but I'm sure the truth would have worked...

The conversation that Shikamaru and Uzuki had suddenly came back into my memory. "Uzuki-sensei... what was that talk you had with Shikamaru earlier?" I asked staring at her.

Uzuki laughs and then claps happily. "I KNOW! You should ask your dear deer if he remembers anything!!! You must go at once and then report back at my house when you've got the desired or undesired information! Go now solider!" she orders and pushes me in the direction of the Nara house.

"Good luck!" Tenten said happily. Before I could turn around and protest, she and Uzuki completely ignored me and talked about Neji. Damnit.

When I got to the Nara house, the paint had dried. I moved back to my house on top of the flower shop that night.

**3 months later. Somewhere in Konoha 5:31 pm**

I never got to talk to Shikamaru all this time. I was so busy training and helping out in the shop that I never even got to see him. Word got to me that the chuunin exams went smoothly and that was the only thing I heard that was close to Shikamaru.

To tell you the truth, it didn't really feel like I haven't seen him. It seems like it was only yesterday when I was sitting across from him in the lunch table. Well... that's what I keep telling myself anyway. The real truth is...

I miss him so much that it hurts. When walking through crowds I always have an eye out for him. I turn at someone who faintly sounds like his voice.

It's worse at night. I haven't had much sleep lately. Every time I try to close my eyes I try to remember him. His warm arms around my body, the way his eyes seemed to take my breath away. The way he seemed to slur and articulate his words at the same time. The way he kissed me. Slowly, ever so slowly. It's all disappearing. It's getting harder and harder to remember anything. It's scaring me.

The world seems to be against me. When I find that I'm finally free, he's always off somewhere. I always doubt myself. Am I the only one that's trying? Should I just stop? I guess you can say I'm in a bit of a depression.

Uzuki-sensei and the rest of my team can see it. They don't talk about Shikamaru with me. They know that it hurts me to think about him. Then why...? Why am I doing it now? Only when I'm alone is when my mind travels to a place that I don't want it to. My team has been trying their hardest not to leave me by myself, but they can't stay with me forever.

Niveus has really helped me though. He likes to follow me around like a loyal dog. I can't help but smile truly with him around. He's the only one that voices out his worries about me. But he does it in a way that doesn't make me uncomfortable.

He can relate to me in a way. He talked to me about how he misses Mei so much that he didn't smile for a year. I didn't believe him because he was smiling loosely as he spoke, but there was something in his eyes that had to be true.

"_I didn't feel like smiling. To me, if she was gone, what is there to smile about? Nothing. How could I be happy if she wasn't there?" he paused. His misty golden eyes weren't looking at me anymore, but at a distant memory._

"_I thought about killing myself, then thought otherwise because that's not cool," he laughed without humor at that and his eyes were back on me. "That's when Uzu-sensei came!" he said happily again._

"_Uzuki-sensei?" I asked. Uzuki was the last person I expected to cheer anyone up. Especially a suicidal person._

"_Hard to believe, huh?" his smile was bright and vibrant and I couldn't help but smile back while nodding. "__Anyway, point is. Don't give up I-chan! I'm sure you'll see him soon, so until then just keep smiling so you won't try and kill yourself," he said happily and I couldn't help but laugh._

He's a good friend, no. He's a good brother. When I remember what he told me, I can't help but smile.

Before I knew it was at home. I walked up to my room quietly. Looking around at my surroundings, I find a box with a ribbon tied around it on my window sill. I was cautious at first, but saw that there was no traps around it. Taking off the ribbon I open the box and find a small music box. I knew it was a music box because I collected many of the same brand.

"Who..." I asked myself out loud as I examined it. People knew I liked the rain, but even less knew my love for music boxes. And how did they not which one to get me anyway? I lift it from it's box and a piece of paper fluttered down. I placed the gift onto my side table and reach to pick up the paper.

My heart skipped a beat when I recognized the writing instantly. The messy yet neat script could belong to one person and one person only. I didn't even know what it said, yet I was filled with joy.

_Meet me at the fountain at midnight. I'll be waiting._

"He wants to meet me!" I was going to scream happily then... "Why didn't he do this sooner?! I've been looking for him everyday for the pass 3 months and NOW he want's to talk to me?!" I yelled to no one.

**TBC.**

**AN:** I think my writing style changed... Sorry again for taking so long. Please don't hate me? well review or I'll cry a million tears.


	10. Chapter 10

**Rain**

chapter 10

**AN:** (cries a million tears) I only got 3 reviews! (Sniffles) I was so proud of that one too... (goes to cry in a dark little room all by my lonesome) on with the story. (sighs)

_My heart skipped a beat when I recognized the writing instantly. The messy yet neat script could belong to one person and one person only. I didn't even know what it said, yet I was filled with joy._

Meet me at the fountain at midnight. I'll be waiting.

"_He wants to meet me!" I was going to scream happily then... "Why didn't he do this sooner?! I've been looking for him everyday for the pass 3 months and NOW he want's to talk to me?!" I yelled to no one._

I then look at the clock. "7:29?!" I yelled. I don't think I've ever been so dejected by the time until then. What the hell am I supposed to do for four and a half hours?! I shook my head viciously and throw myself onto my bed. This is going to be hell.

Looking around my room my eyes fall onto the music box that rested on my side table. I just realized that I don't have a clue as to what song it plays. I reach my hand out and open the top.

... Nothing.

Sighing, I pick it up and turn the knob. When I was through with that I rest it on my palm and examine it. Just a normal box... nothing engraved into it. No special molding around it. Just plain brown-black wood. Raising a brow I lift the top up again.

Instantly, my room was flooded with a loud yet soft melody. I've never heard anything like this before. It made me feel happy, but sad at the same time. It made my heart race in one verse and ache in the next. I don't think I could put to words how beautiful this song truly is, feeling as though I wouldn't do it justice if I did.

I made it my personal mission to find out how, after all... Uzuki-sensei and Tenten would want to know. Thinking about letting them hear it made me feel like I was giving something away that I shouldn't. Like this song was made just for me and I'm not going to let it go. Maybe I'm just being selfish, but that doesn't matter. This song was too beautiful.. Too personal to share.

Time went by and I lay on my bed listening to the song, pondering how to describe it's ethereal melody. It seemed that every time it started up again, the song seemed new to me. I must have been laying here for at least an hour and I still wasn't able to describe it.

Sitting up, I sigh as I twist the key to start the music again. Setting it onto my lap, my eyes look around my room without really seeing. The music was like an anesthetic to each and every one of my senses. I couldn't feel whether or not I was cold. I couldn't taste the chocolate snack I had earlier. The flowery scent of my entire house was gone. My hearing tuned everything else but the song and my sight saw nothing but blurs. I then see something very clearly. I gasp as my eyes widen.

There it was. The description that I was looking for. To put it simply, it _was_ love, all of love packed into this small music box. The happiness you feel when you're around your loved one. The excitement of your first kiss. Even the intense depressing ache you feel when they're away!

The song changed from being painful to the happiest part of all. Only now I realized what this is... the reunion. It made me so happy that I felt as though I would burst. I bring my hand up to my face as I fight the losing battle against my tears. Was this how I was going to feel when I meet up with Shikamaru again? If I ever meet up with Shikamaru again...

My eyes focus on the thing that triggered my description. I pick up the paper with his writing. That's right. I'm going to see him tonight. I close the box as the song died down to it's end and I sigh contentedly.

"Stop being so pessimistic, Ino."

"Yeah. I really should..." I answer agreeing to the voice. This person sounds familiar... The song's anesthetic effect to my senses obliviously hasn't left me yet.

"Great... Hey! I've got a question for ya! What time do you think it is, Ino dearest?"

I look to the clock again, not really worried about my sanity. "Umm... 10:41?" I ask myself confused.

"Good girl... you _do_ realize we were supposed to leave for our mission two hours and forty-one minutes ago, don't you?"

Her voice suddenly became very familiar to me as she talked of leaving before midnight. "Uzuki-sensei. I'm not going on the mission today."

"Like hell you're not! This is your first undercover assignment! You've been wanting this ever since you started training with me!" she yelled hitting me over the head with a rubber hammer.

I felt her cold violet eyes burn holes into my back, she was expecting an answer. My mouth stayed shut. I can't answer her, I can't even look at her. I was going to disappoint her. She was probably never going to talk to me again after this, but I just _have_ to see him.

I hear her grumble out of annoyance behind me She was going to yell. "If staying here in boring ol Konoha is so important to you, at least tell me why," she demanded quietly. It felt as though a heavy weight was lifted off my shoulders. I look at my sensei and see her look down at me expectantly annoyed.

"I..." I trailed off looking for the right words to say.

"You..." she replied tapping her foot. She was clearly annoyed. Uzuki was never a patient girl.

"I miss him Uzuki-sensei. I'm going to see him tonight," I replied sincerely. I received an annoyed grumble from her and she raised her hands in defeat. There was silence between us for the longest time. Her deep purple eyes were looking into mine for something unknown to me.

"Tsunade-sama's going to have my head for this.." she stated.

"I'm sorry..." I said, guilt making me look away. How could I do this to Uzuki? She went through so much to make me a good undercover shinobi. And went through even more to get me a mission like this!

"HA! If you're so sorry you'd stand him up and go on the mission!" her words made me wince. I knew she saw my reaction because she sighed.

"Welp, that's how things go I guess. I'll just tell Tsunade that she's too emotionally unstable to do a mission of this caliber," she said to herself. She then looks at me suddenly angry. "Look Ino, I don't give a damn how happy you are after tonight. You'd better act freakin' dead when you see her tomorrow, or I swear I'll make sure your deerly beloved is sent on a suicide mission." she promised more than joked.

"Th-thank you!" my voice broke. I couldn't stop myself from crying thankful tears at Uzuki's actions. I see her look at me like I'm crazy.

"Whatever girly girl. You owe me big for this, and I mean BIG," she warns. I nodded through my hysterical tears. I then feel her hug me with one arm, "I can't believed I trained such a wimp."

I frown then punch her lightly, "Stop trying to be such a hard ass. I know you're just trying to cover up how nice you are."

She glares at me and bonks me in the head with a hammer. "You better shut that mouth of yours before I change my mind about letting you meet your boy toy."

"Oh! I mean, I'm so SO sorry, Uzuki-sensei. I don't deserve to be trained by one as powerful as you!" I say dramatically then laugh.

She smiles and looks at me with... relief in her eyes? "Good. Now enjoy the crummy weather, because Kami knows how I'm not," and with that she was gone.

I look at the rest of the ninja smoke that Uzuki left behind strangely. What did she mean by that? I look out my window. "It's raining!!!" I say happily just about to jump out the window. I knock something over and hear the reason why I'm skipping my mission.

My eyes roam around my room for the digital clock. "11:39?!" I yell again. Now I really DO have to jump out the window. I'm going to be late!!!

**TBC**

**AN:** was that a short chapter? 3 pages for 3 reviews. I'm determined to show no Shika and Ino fluff until I get more reviews. I have a lot of fillers in my head and I'm in no particular hurry to continue with the storyline. MUHAHAHAHAHAAA!!! review or I'll discontinue the fic... and I _will_. Remember: hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.


	11. Chapter 11

**Rain**

chapter 11

**AN:** a huge thank you to everyone who reviewed! Also I'd like to apologize to everyone. I was most literally demanding reviews like a spoiled lil brat. I know if I were you I wouldn't review just because of how incompetent I sounded. Ok... now that I got that off my chest I'd like to dedicate this chapter to everyone who put up with me. Without further ado... On with the story!

_My eyes roam around my room for the digital clock. "11:39?!" I yell again. Now I really DO have to jump out the window. I'm going to be late!!!_

**Streets of Konoha 11:40 pm**

The moment I hit the ground I took off running. I don't think I've ever ran this fast for anything un-lethal in my life! No, _this_ was lethal to my life, if I don't see him soon... I don't know what would happen. I felt as though I would lose a critical part of me if I didn't see him.

I can't help but get the feeling that this had happened before. It was the strangest sense of deja vu I've ever had. Was I subconsciously trying to remember something that I had forgotten? Something vital maybe?

The rain fell onto me heavily, it was so bad-or good if you're me- that I couldn't see anything more than 5 feet away from me. It coated every part of my body as I ran through it. Maybe the rain was trying to help me as well. I closed my eyes as my legs moved me towards my destination: Shikamaru...

"Shikamaru!" I yelled and whispered at the same time.

I was running. But... there was something missing. It wasn't raining at all, and I was running in the wrong direction. I felt as though I was miserable and disappointed, yet furious at the same time. I sniffled.

Stop it Ino! You have to be strong! I refuse to cry. This isn't something to cry about... I _refuse_ to let it happen... I just... won't.

I continued to run. My feet were taking me somewhere. I don't know where, but I know they're bringing me somewhere safe. Somewhere I could cry if I absolutely had to... Somewhere I could feel at ease, a warm place.

My legs stopped running and slowed down to a fast walk. I suddenly found myself in a meadow. Now there are a lot of meadow's in Konoha so I had no idea which one it was. They all looked the same to me. My eyes scanned the tall grass and wild flowers.

Where was I walking to? Why did I continue to feel more and more relaxed? I know my questions would be unanswered until my legs led me to where they wanted to go.

A strange wave of emotion washed over me. Was it a mixture of adrenaline and fear? Ah! A sense of urgency! But why so suddenly? There it is! My legs have stopped moving but I don't feel safe. I don't feel warmth or a sense of relief. I only feel as though something was ripped out of me, a pain that hurt more than anything I could imagine.

"Ino?" a soothing lazy voice called out from behind me. The intense pain seemed to withdraw as he spoke my name. I froze in my spot, my body refusing to look at him. Why?

"Ino... what're you doing here?" he said in a normal annoyed conversational tone. I knew better though. There was something differernt about _this_ tone. He was worried, no... far past worried it was almost scared, but he knew my pride wouldn't allow him to show it openly. That if I knew he knew that something was upsetting me that I'd feel lower than fungus.

"Sh...Shika-kun..." I mumbled. It happened so quickly that I didn't know what to do at first. And I was the one doing it! All of a sudden I found myself clinging onto his body. My head buried in his chest.

I feel like an idiot. What in the world am I doing? I was about to pull away, but his arms circled around me. The pain I felt earlier vanished only to be replaced by my earlier sadness. I held onto him as though I would die if I let go. I started crying.

We stayed like that for a long time. And after that long time, I stopped my crying and lightly pushed away from him while still hugging him. I smiled, one of my rare true smiles that said that I was utterly and completely happy and he was the reason for it.

I hugged him one last time then took two steps back. "Thank you Shika-kun," I said sincerely, still smiling.

He looked at me with shock at first, it then melted into a loving gaze before he looked away. "Troublesome girl," he mumbled.

I frowned, my happy smile erased completely. "WHAT?!" I yelled and hit him over the head then stormed off.

"WHOA!" I exclaimed as I dodged out of the way of a telephone pole. The rain was back. I guess I spaced out... I jumped off a roof and onto the wet concrete floor.

I never really remembered when I feel in love with Shikamaru, I only remember that I always had, but that was silly! There had to be a point when I stopped seeing him as just a friend. Was that when I realized that I loved him? We must have been noo older than 6 when that happened. Did I love him for that long?

My legs started their sprint again as I recalled what happened with more detail. I was having trouble learning Shinranshin. I remembered that no matter how much I practiced it never worked. I was frustrated with myself.

What a strange time to fall in love with him.. I mean he didn't ask questions, he didn't do anything to calm me down. He just stayed there... letting me cry... holding me. Never mind. That wasn't strange at all... He was just what I needed.

I took a deep breath. He never asked me about it after, like I would have. He never used it as black mail, like I would have at that age. He already knew what I wanted him to be even at age 6! He truly IS a genius.

Ahhh! Enough remembering the past! I must focus on the present! I'm going to see Shikamaru! After the longest 3 months of my life I'm _finally_ going to see him!!! I find a new burst of energy flow through me as I sprint toward my destination.

I really wasn't paying attention to anything around me. Partly was because the rain was too thick to see and partly because... well, who would be out this late in this weather anyway?

But... I really should have. I feel horrible. Why? Because I bumped into someone, literally. It wasn't hard enough that **I** fell, but it _was_ hard enough for the person I bumped into. To make matters worse, the girl was wearing a completely white kimono and I just _had_ to come storming by and push her in the mud!

"Omg!I'msosorry,Iwasn'tlookingwhereIwas go-ing? (Omg! I'm so sorry I wasn't looking where I was go-ing?)" I say quickly then stop suddenly when I got a good look at her.

She... she was... well... creepy! Her hair was a dark shade of black that went down to her knees, but her skin was so white that it almost blended into her kimono! Her umbrella was tossed a couple of feet away from us and the rain instantly soaked her. To tell you the truth, she looked like those pretty feudal day Japanese ghosts you see in comic books.

I watched her. Mesmerized by how pretty she was and how scary she is. She didn't move an inch. I guess I hit her on the side... she was sitting/laying down with her body to the left. Her arms were holding her up on one side of her body and she wasn't looking at me. Was she alright? I was going to touch her to see if she was ok, but she scared me when she looked at me suddenly. I muffled a gasp, her eyes were just as dark as her hair. She looks like a doll...

"You..." she has such a small voice that I had to strain to hear it from the rain. "He's waiting for you."

"What...?" I asked my voice bordering hysteria. She really is a ghost! How would she know if he's waiting or not!? Wait... how did she know I was going to meet up with someone?!

"Listen to what he has to say. Don't run away," she says emotionlessly. Although her voice was blank, her eyes said everything. She was sad. "GO!" she yells suddenly in anger. I took a step back from her. I've seen her before!

"M...Mei?" I asked breathless. Her face became hard and, before I knew it, she was standing in front of me. Her small hands had an iron lock grip onto my wrists as she held me in place. She was about a head shorter than me and smaller than I'd ever hope to be, but how could she be so strong? She glared deeply into my eyes and my heartbeat sped more in fear. Why's the ghost of Mei here? And what is she doing?

The rain fell between us and she continued to glare up at me. Although she was looking right at me it seemed like she wasn't at all. She was somewhere deep in my mind. As impossible as it may sound, it looked as though she was sifting through my memories. Her piercing eyes suddenly change to sorrow and she started to cry. My eyes widened. What happened?!

"Niveus-kun..." she said in a whisper. She let go then quickly turned away from me. I watched as she walked slowly to her umbrella. After picking it up, I watch as her small shoulders shook it as it rested on her. She was walking away from me as slowly as before. All I could see of her was the back of her pure white umbrella, the rest of her long black hair and the white of her kimono.

Could she not pass through to the other side because of her love for Niveus?! Does she not know how much he loves her?! I felt a pang in my heart. My brother was hurting... she was hurting. Was simply loving someone really that sad?

"Mei! He's never forgotten about you. I.. I don't think he ever will," I say trailing off. She stopped. "I don't know what happened, but I know... I know that he misses you! He may not look it, but I know he's beating himself up everyday remembering how he hurt you."

As I talked, Mei turned to me. At first she watched me with a confused stare then melted into a softer one. One that said she believed me, but there was the same look Niveus has. The one of hidden sorrow, regret.

Why's that there? Shouldn't what I have said made her happy enough to leave? I recalled what I said to her again. I could have laughed at my stupidity. How could I leave out the most important thing she wants to hear? The most important thing Niveus-niisan _wants_ her to hear?

"Mei... He loves you," I say as sincerely as I felt. Her eyes widened for a split second then she smiled. It was just as beautiful as the one in the first picture Niveus showed me. (See chapter 6 if you forgot)

"Thank you very much... Now, please go. He's still waiting," she said while smiling at me warmly, she was just as polite as Niveus-niisan. I smiled back at her and nodded once. I hope now she can find peace...

My legs started moving and I began to jog. I turned around, but she wasn't there. I smiled again to myself then sprinted the rest of the way.

**Fountain 12:03 am**

I looked to my clock. I wasn't really late, but in the words of my sensei: "If you're early you're on time, if you're on time, you're late, and if you're late, you're dead." Hopefully Shikamaru doesn't live by the same strict schedule. But... what if 3 minutes was 3 minutes too late?

A sudden wave of sadness hit me and the pain in my chest worsened. I don't know what would happen if I didn't see him tonight. After I had all of this hope, only to have it crumble before my eyes because I wanted to help my brother's dead girlfriend out?!

I had to resist being angry. Why should I be so mad anyway? I mean, I just saw him a couple of months ago and waaaay before that I rejected his love for me... I winced. _I rejected him._ Was he going to do the same to me tonight? Did he call me out just so he could reject me like I did? Or was his not showing supposed to be rejection enough?

Stop it. Uzuki-sensei would kill you if she knew you were being this depressing. 'You're killing me Ino! I put my job on the line so you could see your stupid deer and you don't even see him?!' I could hear her yell at me. She would most definitely kick me off her team if I told her that.

The music box's tune started up in my head. I felt happy at first... then the pain... but I couldn't remember the happiest part of the song. Was the reunion erased from my memory forever? Was I not meant to _have_ a reunion?

I clenched my fists at my sides and I let out a frustrated scream. Why couldn't **I** have a happy ending like they do in the movies?! Why do **I** have to feel this pain?!

My anger turned to sadness quickly and I had to stop myself from crying. She said he was waiting... Why would Mei lie to me like that...?

"Ino?" I hear someone calling me. It's only been a second but I don't remember what emotion I was having before, I was immediately filled with an overwhelming happiness.

"Shikamaru!?!?" I called out to him looking everywhere for him. I must look like a freak but I need to see him. I could hear him, but I can't see him! Where is he gawd damnit?!

THERE HE IS!!! I could barely see him on the other side of the big water fountain. I couldn't stop myself. I ran right though the fountain. Anything to get me up to him quickly. As I reached the end of it I jumped high into the air, making sure he would be where gravity pulled me down.

"What are y-" he started to ask but he was cut off by catching me.

**AN: **There's more shikaino fluff, but for the sake of my sanity I'm going to do a POV change. XD a gold star to whoever guesses who it is in the first paragraphs!

**mean while. Graveyard 12:03 am**

I couldn't sleep and, again, I find myself walking here. How long has it been since I last slept? I closed my eyes and counted the days. Almost half a year now and all this time I find myself walking here.

It hurts to come here... it hurts so much that I want to scream, so why? Am I really that masochistic? Ah, who am I kidding? I know why. I need to remember. If I forget, then I'm lower than dirt. Besides, I promised her.

My cheeks hurt and yet I can't stop myself from smiling. I made another promise and I keep my promises. One would think that after all this time, I'd be used to it. Humans don't adapt so well after all. I'm not angry, I hope you know. If this pain keeps me from forgetting, I'll live through it. It's just pain after all. It _could _be worse. I could never see her again.

My trained legs walked to the place where I always waited. Never moving, no matter what the weather. She made a promise too and I've never known her to not keep her promises.

I did what I always did as I waited. I thought intently. My life never seemed to be the topic, always someone else. Tonight's topic was I-chan. I worry about I-chan. she's going through much of what I had to. She so quickly reminded me of matters I do not wish to be reminded of. And yet, I-chan tended to be a major topic in my thoughts. I truly am a masochist.

In the past month I pondered her future on 20 different days. When would she go back to her normal self? How do I go about comforting her? Can I really help her at all?

I ask myself these questions again and again, but the answers are exactly the same. She will go back to normal when she sees _him_. **I** cannot comfort her, only support her. The only way I _should_ help will only make me angry.

Never in my life have I ever felt so powerless. The way I want to do things is not the right way. _He_ dislikes me enough as it is. _He_ wouldn't listen to me if I told him what I had to to make I-chan happy.

I clench a fist in front of me as I allow the rain to keep my sleepiness at bay. Only when it rains do I ever feel less... alone. It makes me wonder why I-chan likes it. Does she tend to feel as lonely as I do? I ask myself this question as well, and I never get an answer. I-chan herself won't tell me. I really need to let it go.

Ten-chan seems to be the only one of our group to take I-chan's... situation normally. Ten-chan is worried. She wants to help, but doesn't want to make matters worse by interfering. If only _he_ could be more like Nejiri.

Uzu-sensei said she was going to make I-chan happy again. When my mind went to Uzu-sensei I could never understand what went on in her head. How does she manipulate everyone around her so easily? I ask myself that as well and never find an answer.

What could she do to make _him_ TRY to see I-chan? _He_ never made an effort before, why is now so different? From what I could tell, _he_ doesn't trust Uzu-sensei either.

My fists tighten again. _He_ is the only one that could instill this type of anger in me. If I-chan wouldn't hate me, I would have killed _him_ by now. I must admit, the word "kill" would be too much. _He_ does not deserve to die after he pained I-chan this much.

It sounds like I hate him doesn't it? I'm not ashamed of myself to say that I DO hate _him_. "Hate." Such a strong word. If I met him on a different circumstance would I be good friends with him? I know the answer would be yes, but... the circumstances are where they are, and I _hate_ him.

"Stupid... Maruru," I allowed myself to grumble.

"Ino-chan would be very upset with you if she heard you say that about _him_," she says.

Finally the voice I've been losing sleep over. A voice more attractive than any mythical siren. I turn to her. "My beautiful angel," I coo as my arms surround her petite form.

She giggles into my chest. Ah... it was too good to be true. A sadness consumes me as I let her go. I have to force this smile. "That's not very nice Uzu-sensei!" I say happily then laugh. Of course _she_ wouldn't be here. Uzu-sensei must be a sadist.

"Haha! Sorry dearest," she says returning to her normal self. "I just wanted to tell you that I set Ino and Shikamaru up. If she's not happy by tomorrow then I'll help you make Shikamaru hurt."

"How'd ya do that Uzu-sensei!?" I smile brightly at my teacher. I can forgive her for pretending to be Mei this time. _He_ would pay if he hurt I-chan. If I-chan wasn't happy by tomorrow, at least I will.

"It wasn't easy! I had to give the stupid deer my favorite music box for him to do anything! So annoying," she complained. Uzu-sensei doesn't seem the type to be interested in music. One _does_ learn something new every day. Silence surrounded us after that, but it wasn't going to stay that way. The easiest way to fight off loneliness is to not be alone after all.

"Heeeeey, what're ya doin' here anyways?" I asked making conversation.

She winks at me then hits me on the head with her rubber hammer. I hold the spot with my right hand and we laugh together. She then looks at me seriously. "You know she can't come back."

This is what I would expect from Uzu-sensei. She never beat around the bush when she talked of something serious. "Hahaha, I know, but... a guy can hope, right?" I reply knowing my smile couldn't hide my sadness from her.

I see her roll her eyes and sigh. "You're so loyal, it's almost scary."

"Heeeeeee, I get that a lot," I answered smiling sheepishly.

"Welp, it's creepy here and it's late. I'm going to bed. See ya later puppy dearest!" she said quickly then disappeared.

It was common for me to be compared to that of a dog. I never get insulted though, dogs have very admirable qualities that most humans should have in themselves. Loyalty is one of them, and loyal I'll be. I'll stay here, waiting on this grave, forever until I see her. I find that this waiting is the price I must pay to be complete. And when I see her, I'll never leave her again.

**Fountain 12:06 am. (POV change back)**

I really should have thought things through. Apparently the saying "think before you leap" doesn't register in my head. He must think I'm crazy...er crazier. Well... I suppose it could be worse. I could have missed him completely and be laying head first in the mud. At least he didn't _not_ catch me.

Oh stop talking to yourself Ino! All that doesn't matter! The only thing that does is that I'm with him!!! He's holding me and I'm holding him! And! It's raining! This is the greatest feeling I've had in such a long time! I look up to find him staring at me with a raised brow. He was amused?! Well! I'll just have to turn the tables on him!

"So, you wanted to see me?" I asked happily as I hug him loosely. My hands were around his neck and his hands rested on my waist. The idea that we looked like we were dancing made me smile brighter.

"I wanted to make sure you weren't going to disappear for two years again," he replied taunting me. (Twitch) _He's_ taunting _me_!

"**I** disappeared?! If I remember correctly _you_ stopped talking to _me_!"

"How troublesome.." he mumbled while looking away.

"Troublesome?!" I screeched stepping away from him enraged. "I didn't have to come here ya know!"

He looked at me, angry at first, then... what? I can't tell... why can't I tell?! Damnit! I have to demand that Uzuki teach me to read people better. This sucks!

"Why _did_ you come here?" his tone matched my anger.

"I don't even know! You're obliviously not going to tell me what I want to, so I'm just going to leave!" I yelled back stomping off towards my house.

Wait... no! This wasn't supposed to happen! This isn't how our reunion was supposed to be! It was supposed to be beautiful! After he told me he loved me we would have a cliche happily ever after! Not we finally get to see each other, then have a stupid argument and probably never talk again!

I have to turn around. I... I have to talk to him. My stupid body wouldn't listen to me, AGAIN! How could I do this to myself? Why did I mess up so badly?

Wait... this wasn't my fault after all! I realize that the reason why I couldn't turn around wasn't because my body was rebelling against my wishes again, but because I _couldn't_ move! Straining my eyes to look down I saw that he caught me in his shadow again.

"What do you want me to tell you?" he demanded from behind me.

My eyes widened. Well, it was probably a good thing that he couldn't see my face because I flushed furiously. Damnit, now I have to go back to basics with Uzuki-sensei. I can't even hide my emotions properly any more.

Pull yourself together! Be confident! If you don't, you'll sound like one of those wimpy girls in your shojo manga! OK! Say: 'I see what you're doing, you're trying to dodge the question!' sure he'll be confused, but it's ok! As long as you're not mad at one another, it's fine. What're you waiting for Ino?! Say it!

"Just forget it Shikamaru. It was a mistake for you to contact me," I'm going to kill my mouth. If it's possible, I will kill my mouth. I sounded angry! Why didn't it say what I wanted it to!?

There was nothing but the sound of rain. I saw the shadow below creep away from me slowly. I shut my eyes tightly out of frustration and clench my fists. I felt tears pool in my closed eyes, as it be came very clear to me. I will never have a fairy tale ending. But... just because it's not the ending I wanted, does it mean we can't be friends? I have to lighten the mood somehow.

I force myself to laugh. I don't know how I did it, but I did, and it sounded genuine. I turn to Shikamaru and say, "It's really late, Shika-kun! Call me when you Chouji and Asuma-sensei are free! We still have to go to the Korean BBQ place!"

"Why?" he demanded sounding angry.

"'Why?'" I repeated, "so we can hang out silly!" I force myself to laugh again.

"No, why didn't you ask me what you wanted to?" his voice was hard, I could see him get angrier and angrier. How am I supposed to answer that?

"What? _You_ invited _me_. I should be asking you what you wanted to ask me!" that's a good way to answer it- confusing as it is- but my mouth did a good job. I watched him carefully as he walked towards me. From what I could see through the rain, he was calming down. That's good right?

He stopped less than a foot away from me. I didn't notice this before, but his hair was down. How could I not notice this before?! With his hair down and the rain he looks like a super model! I look at his eyes and I remember why I was distracted earlier. I forgot how mesmerizing they were.

"Do you love me?" he asked suddenly. My eyes widened out of pure shock. I definitely wasn't expecting this. He was too calm, too confident.

After the shock settled I felt my cheeks turn deep red. I was embarrassed. Why'd he have to ask me so bluntly? How should I answer this? Well... truthfully, duh Ino! I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. The way he was looking at me made my words stick in my throat. I purse my lips together. There's no way I'm going to be able to say anything if I keep looking at him.

OH NO! What if my actions seemed like I was going to reject him again?! I felt my worry show on my face. AH! Do something Ino! Shikamaru's still waiting! X(

While my mind was turning to mush, I could feel my head nod slowly. Then my mouth mumble, "very much..." Finally they did something that I wanted it to! Maybe... maybe they always did what I wanted to, even if my consciousness didn't know it.

Hmmm... I'll think about it later. Shikamaru's giving me mixed signals here. Why do I say that? He didn't react to me like a normal person would have. He was just nodding his head as if I told him it was raining! I felt the anger boil inside me. That bastard!

"What's wrong?" Shikamaru asked looking at me strangely. I guess he sensed my anger, but what kind of question is that?! Is he really that stupid?! I could feel my earlier blush of embarrassment turn to a flush of intense anger.

"'Wh-what's wrong?!'" I yelled a couple of octaves higher than normal. And that was all I said that was coherent, even to me! I was so angry that I wasn't even speaking words! I could feel my hands twinge with the want to strangle him so I turn away while continuing my angry nonsensical ramble.

I could hear him laughing next to me. HE WAS LAUGHING! And then he has the nerve to say, "Calm down Ino."

"YOU CALM DOWN! FREAKIN' BASTARD!" I yelled like an idiot. The sound of the rain and my angry panting was the only thing that could be heard after that. I stood as still as a statue... that was possessed by an angry spirit.

And then he laughed... again. (twitch) And here I was calming down. I turned my body so I can smack him a good one and storm off. I don't care if we're not friends anymore. He's a bastard.

As my hand was speeding towards his face his hand intercepted it. Needless to say, I was shocked, but just because my mind was shocked doesn't mean my body cared. I froze for a split second then lifted my other hand to wack him, but... he caught it again.

So here we stood.. In the rain. His hands holding my wrists. He being very calm and me... well me being very not. I was so very _not_ calm that I tried to yank my hands away from his, but he has a steel-like grip that--oddly enough, didn't hurt. I didn't want to kick him, like my foot was aching to do. Ok, so maybe I _did_ want to kick him, but my love for him is stronger than my want...

My body realized that fighting against him wasn't going to do anything so my mouth got to work. "You let me go this very instant Nara Shikamaru," I threatened while glaring at him.

"I don't think I will," he said so sternly that it made my mouth shut up. I stared at him wide-eyed with shock, but I started shaking from anger. "You're confusing, Ino. First you love me then you get so angry that you want to hit me," he says softly as he steps forward causing me to move back.

"I'm just frustrated," I said straining to calm myself. My arms haven't relaxed yet and they were keeping us about a foot apart. I then feel something on my back stopping me from moving. He backed me up into a tree! If looks could kill, he'd be dead a million deaths by now.

He smiled down on me. "Calm down Ino," he said again, his voice was soothing.

My glare at him said, 'No way in hell buddy.' I saw him sigh, but his eyes never left mine. Those intense eyes just wouldn't let my angry ones go. He bent his head down, his cheek rested on mine and his breath tickled my bare neck.

"Please?" his voice sent chills down my spine. I had to stop myself from moaning out loud, my heart was beating so fast I was surprised that it didn't burst out of my chest. Gawd, he only said one word!

No! You're angry Ino. Angry! I shake my head while knitting my eyebrows together. He then moved his head away from my ear and rested his forehead on mine. "You leave me no choice then," he smiled an annoyed lopsided smile which caused me to frown more.

We were locked in a staring battle. His smile seemed to grow wider as the seconds passed. I knew what was happening, but I don't believe it. Although I'm fuming with rage he's bringing me closer, and I wasn't moving away!

He stopped suddenly when he was so close to me, I could feel the heat radiating off his lips and onto mine. Why would he stop?! I saw his eyes smile before he filled the small gap so our lips would meet. It was a very sweet kiss. I relaxed immediately, and that was all he needed.

"I love you Yamanaka Ino," he whispered quietly as he let go of my hands and brought me in a warm hug. He ended the kiss all too quickly and, yet, it was enough, he made up for it in the end. I don't think I could be any happier than I felt this second. This happiness was better than the songs reunion could ever be.

I hugged him back, my cheek rested on his chest and I closed my eyes contentedly. I was reminded that being in his arms made me more peaceful than standing in the rain.

I felt him kiss the top of my head and I look up at him, without letting him go. He smiled lightly and I smiled brightly. Niveus' smiles was nothing compared to Shikamaru's.

**TBC.**

**AN:** yes! There's going to be more! If you want any specific InoShika fluff (or any other fluff for that matter) don't hesitate to ask! I hope you didn't get confused with the POV change... I was having writers block and after I was done writing it, I was able to writethe rest in a day... T.T

OMG! I almost forgot! EVERYONE please thank Miss Aki-chan (aka tomboy14) because she helped me so SO much on this chapter. I can't express how thankful I am to her in words! Why are you thanking her you all might ask? Welp! You're thanking her for giving me all the ideas for basically all the fluff I had in this chapter! (Bows lowly) Thank you Aki-chan/tomboy14! You are truly a saint!

Ps. If you don't review Niveus will be alone forever. Hahaha jk jk... or am I?


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